Whispers in the Dark
by PlatonicTeddys
Summary: Weeks after the events of KH2, Sora disappears. A grave reunion at Disney Castle throws Sora,Kairi and Riku headlong into deals with darkness, love and loss, and the power of unwavering faith. Sometimes happy endings must be earned. KxSxR,OT3,Sora centric
1. Ch 0 Alone at the End

Whispers in the Dark

Main Characters / Pairings: KairixSoraxRiku OT3 , Sora Centric  
Summary: Weeks after the events of KH2, the keyblade master disappears without a trace. A grave reunion with Sora at Disney Castle reveals a startling truth about their hero that Kairi and Riku are completely unprepared for. Deals with darkness, love and loss, and the power of unwavering faith. Sometimes happy endings must be earned.

Ratings: PG 13 for now  
Disclaimer: Squenix and Disney own KH. I'm just a fan.  
Notes: Searched long and hard for a really big Kingdom hearts Epic that did something new. Then decided to write it myself. Not the greatest author in the world. Just someone who has little people running around in her head, asking to be brought to life. This isn't going to be a three chapter story. Or a High school fic that lasts 5 chapters. It's going to be a long and immersive continuation written by an amateur. If you're still willing to make the journey with me, I hope you enjoy the ride.

Lets begin… shall we?

-

[ Prologue ]

"_To rid ourselves of our shadows - who we are - we must step into either total light or total __**darkness.**__"  
- Jeremy Preston Johnson_

_-_

At first he thinks he's dying.

The world is fuzzy around the edges and it's really hard for him to think of anything except for the time that he and Riku found a bird lying on the sidewalk. The memory is crystal clear. It's almost as vivid as his memories of yesterday. He remembers grey skies, muddy feathers and so much rain…

His life should be flashing before his eyes. All the trivial and mundane things should fade away, while all the important pillars of his life remain. People who have faced as much danger as he has… they've all said as much: At what seems to be the end of the road, only the important things, memories and precious people he holds dear will be with him.

Why then, would he cling now to a ghost of a memory? And not a very good one at that?

_Everything_ hurts, everything burns like it's on fire. It must be the way things feel when the body wants to give out.

Frustration burns in his stomach. This isn't how it's supposed to be. He wants to see his last days by the shore bathed in the afternoon sun, not in some dark, looming cavern at the End of the World.

The thought is suffocating.

But no, he can't be dying, because if he really is, there's nothing that can be done. It's the end. It's all over. Story's done. Finished. The fearless leader, the main character, the last light amongst a sea of black… gets snuffed out like a candle.

It scares him a little bit.

So he uses that feeling to push himself up from the floor and he's grateful he has the strength to manage as much. It's progress after a long time of wondering if he can really put himself together to move forward. It's only a glimmer of hope, but he knows more than anyone that even just a spark carries people surprisingly far in their darkest hours.

He hasn't said his good-byes, so he tries not to think of how he would only need to close his eyes and let go, because it's that _easy_. His whole life has been one sea of hardship and difficult choices. He fights against maelstroms of wind, mountains of change and oceans worth of betrayal but _never_ _once_ has he thrown in the towel or even remotely relinquished victory to his opponents. Didn't he deserve to give in just this once? Would just once make that much a difference?

The idea of letting go becomes more and more appealing as the seconds tick by like tiny eternities, and that's the only indication that he's really hurt this time: if he _wants _to give in, things are bad.

A voice in his head insists otherwise: Come on. Hold on. Just try and focus. Just take a step, that's all you have to do.

His mind keeps coming back to the bird. Broken, sad and scared under cloudy skies. In the end, the light had faded from its eyes and he still remembers the sick, sinking feeling that burrowed into his stomach knowing that its last moments were spent scared and in pain.

He remembers burying it.

He wonders if that same pile of stones is stacked in the empty lot at the end of the street. He wonders if anyone else understands the significance of it. And then he wonders why it makes him sad that no one but he and Riku probably ever will.

He tries to get his legs moving.

The voice in his head is soothing and urgent in the same token: Take a step.

Its sound is familiar and he finds the presence of this voice both a relief and a burden. So he pulls at the last edges of his strength to try for just another step. Don't think beyond that, just concentrate on one step. But anguish falls on his heart when he finds that wishful thinking is not enough. It isn't working. His legs. They won't move. He's really trying so hard, he really is, and he doesn't think he can do it. They won't move, they won't…

The voice is there again, patient and caring and Sora thinks maybe if it wasn't there, he'd be lost. It urges him on: it knows he's tired but it's okay. There is still hope. There is still a way. Try again. Try again.

So he does.

Strangely, it is not the thought of home that drives him. It is not the voice that presses him onward so urgently (because it knows if he stops, he wont get back up again) and presses an invisible hand to his back. It is not the fact that Kairi is waiting, not even the fact that Riku would scold him for being weak and that he's stronger than that.

It is the fact that neither Riku and Kairi are there with him when he knows he's very close to letting go. It is the fact that if he disappears here, no one will ever know.

He takes another step through the cave and he's so relieved even if it's just is another ragged victory in a sea of dull, aching losses.

He won't die here, he thinks. He has to keep reaching. Failure is a bitter taste in his mouth, but not as bitter as the emptiness felt by close friends with faith deep enough to wait for someone who might never come home.

There is not much of him left to save.

But there are people waiting at the edge of a distant shore, who might be willing to take back what little remains.

And so, lost and alone in the eaves of darkness with death and fatigue biting at his heels, Sora gathers the last splinters of hope and tries once more to reach for the light.


	2. Ch 1 The King and the almost Casualty

**Whispers in the Dark  
**

Notes:  Thanks for the reviews. My first KH real fanfic, so its appreciated : ) . Fixed a lot of the POV switching so its less confusing. Search for a reliable beta continues.

---

[ Chapter 01: The King and the (almost) Casualty ]

"The silence of the people is a warning for the king**.**" - French proverb

---

In retrospect, Kairi knew that Jam and Mustard Potatoes did not a hearty breakfast make. After all, she was distracted at the time she made it.

She wasn't proud of it, but everyone had their own ways of dealing with things. Some people had knitting, some people had punching bags, some had long sob-fests on the phone with best friends, and some people just turned self destructive.

Well, Kairi had catastrophic cooking, which wasn't so dangerous for her as it was for everyone within smelling distance. Meals made in distress tended to send her adopted family running for the hills. It was always a toss up between curiously good, or atrociously disgusting.

On good days where her nerves were solid, her cooking was fine, if not moderately tasty. Mornings when she woke up and the sun was shining and the birds chirping, the alluring aroma of her making breakfast was enough to entice the entire family down to the dinner table at ungodly hours. Today? Well… today's batch was a wild card. Who knew what it would taste like…

The only reason she had decided to bring this particular monstrosity with her on the trip to see Sora was because she couldn't decide whether it would be a good present (if it tasted good) or a better punishment (if it tasted terrible). She would be satisfied with either, because as much as she wanted to help Sora feel better, she was still ticked off at her self-proclaimed hero for leaving Destiny Islands without telling her. Again.

Riku certainly hadn't been very pleased with Sora's wordless departure either. There were the beginnings of dark circles underneath his eyes and it certainly hadn't been from late night TV marathons. Riku didn't _do _TV marathons. He'd probably stayed awake brooding about what he could possibly do without using his old powers to follow his friend off to other worlds. When Sora left without telling anyone, what was Riku supposed to do? Riku could do nothing short of asking the darkness oh-so-nicely if he could hitch a ride through a portal without having to sell his soul a second time. He was done with that. He'd been unable to jump from world to world since being stripped of his inner darkness at the battle for Kingdom hearts, which meant it was impossible for him to find his best friend when he'd disappeared. Not without help, anyway.

From Donald and Goofy's gummi ship, that is.

_It's been weeks, so Sora's totally due for an earful from __both__ me and Riku,_ she thought as she settled herself down in the co-pilot seat up front.

The gummi ship was set to autopilot so Donald and Goofy probably wouldn't mind if she took up the space for a few minutes. They weren't due for Disney Castle for another few hours, anyway, so the dynamic duo was spending their time away from the cockpit and in another room of the ship, trying to fit all their extra junk into a supply closet.

She turned to the seat beside her where Riku was biding his time reading star maps. He was half bent over the colorful control panel resting his elbows on the console, his aquamarine eyes scanning the monitor, which periodically blinked their location every few seconds. One of the faulty lights overhead sputtered to life long enough to see his solemn expression in clarity before the light sputtered back out, leaving them once more in the dim green lighting. The monitor painted them both an eerie shade of neon.

"I put it in the refrigerator so it wouldn't spoil before we get there," she said, motioning coolly to the back of the ship.

Riku deliberately slid a finger across the screen's touch panel, moving one map aside for another. He didn't spare her a glance, but Kairi knew he was listening, "He knows better than to touch it."

"Oh but he's stuck in bed," She waved a finger at Riku. "When I bring it to him, he won't have a choice."

He moved aside another map, this time of Wonderland's star grid. Riku tilted his head towards her, eyes connecting with hers through a side-glance, "It smells like death in the galley."

Kairi wrinkled her nose, "I know."

Nothing but the steady bleep of the control panel filled the small space. She imagined his thoughts as little thunderclouds floating above his head, heavy with questions. She wasn't much of a mindreader, but she liked to think maybe Riku had the same hesitations, the same little demons sailing around in her head, insisting that something had probably gone horribly wrong for Donald and Goofy to have to come out all the way to Destiny Islands to pick them up. About the closest she could do to figuring out what Riku was thinking was to stare at his face until Riku told her to stop or started fidgeting under her gaze.

He did neither, which made Kairi sigh and join him in examining the maps from where she sat.

_Still don't know what he's thinking, but at least we're much closer now than we were before, _she reminded herself. Since the argument, they'd done away with some issues getting in the way of them getting along. She found it unusual that they'd get each others tempers so easily in the past weeks or so, considering that they'd always been really compatible. Fights were few and far in between, but she supposed maybe the stakes were so high recently that the pressure must have weakened their reserve.

All it took was one good screaming match and things panned out. It wasn't the most dignified or mature way to deal with their problems, but in the end, Kairi didn't have to work as hard to pry things out of Riku and Riku was more comfortable having someone to confide in. Progress was slow, but steady and she could feel the difference. He was even able to relax around her a bit more, too. She was worried that the days of him fidgeting or needlessly angsting to himself about the past would never end. It almost hurt her to see Riku walk around with his guilty memories following him around like half-hearted ghosts. Since Riku had started talking to her more often, the ghosts had faded somewhat. Now she had to work on the feelings they carried.

Especially the guilt. She just wasn't sure what to do. She'd already forgiven him for everything. There was only one person left who had to forgive Riku for what he'd done, and it wasn't Sora or Kairi. They were that special brand of best-friend that could salvage any broken relationship and rebuild the bridge that had been burnt there before. In the end, maybe Riku _wanted_ someone to hate him. Riku _needed_ with a hidden intensitysomeone to tell him that it was all his fault.

Kairi leaned back in her chair and crossed her feet at the ankles as she watched the stars speed past the head of the ship. They were little more than streaks of light.

"It's good that Goofy and Donald picked us up."

Riku's little storm clouds were brewing again. If she squinted, she thought she might've seen Sora's face in them.

Sora was safe and sound, recovering at Disney Castle. But what he was recovering from or why Donald and Goofy had decided to bring them to the castle after so much time had passed, Kairi didn't know. She imagined words she'd be terrified to hear at the edge of their tongues like a dirty secret.

_Missing, gone, too late, I'm sorry, can't, lost, dead- _

Think positive, she kept reminding herself. Nothing good would come of worrying. It was like a rocking chair, all this movement that got you nowhere.

Still…

She shook her head. Sora was just mere worlds away and that by some stroke of luck, she didn't even have to lift a finger to get there.

Some time passed before Riku took his attentions away from the panel and joined hers on the fleeting starscape. Something seemed to change in Riku's expression, and so did the atmosphere between them.

"He didn't say good-bye when he left," Riku said suddenly, and Kairi blinked at the sudden jump in topics. As usual, Riku's thoughts processed lightning fast. She counted herself lucky Riku was saying what was on his mind at all. Even if she was lost for a moment in his thought process. When she gave herself some time to reflect, it came together and made sense.

Sora was the type of person who never had the word 'good-bye' in his immediate vocabulary. Those words were strictly reserved for those 'We'll probably never see each other again' moments. In Sora's mind, everyone he met on his journey, whether they'd done him some wrong in the past or not, he always assumed they'd meet again someday so those moments happened next to never. Good-bye was more of a permanent fare-well, a finality that Sora found completely unacceptable.

In a way, it might have been for the best that he _hadn't_ said good-bye. Especially to his two best friends.

Kairi folded delicate hands over her heart, "I'm glad."

Both her and Namine were chilled when a tiny voice spoke up inside, wondering what the words 'good-bye' would sound like coming from Sora.

The stars flew past cold as the words burned in her mind.

---

Judging from their warm reception in the Castle's Gummi hangar, Riku figured that Sora couldn't have been in too grave danger. After all, if there had been a serious problem, Chip and Dale would've approached both him and Kairi in a far more solemn manner. As it stood, the two chipmunks had practically fallen all over themselves in excitement trying to get down to the landing pad as he and Kairi emerged from the gummi ship.

As Riku set foot onto the ramp, he took in his surroundings glad to be out of the ship. Left, right, overhead, and all around, there were gears turning and conveyor belts clanking gummi ship parts to opposite sides of the hangar. Simplified pulleys and gloved mechanical hands did most of the work putting together and taking apart other various models of the stuff.

Riku was amused to notice that aside from the neutral gray of the stone walls, everything was painted in bright primary colors, almost like the whole world had been designed by an elementary schooler with a box of crayons.

He'd rather have this instead of the inside of the gummi ship. It wasn't terrible to look at, but he'd never been a good flier. Mickey and him did their traveling on foot and through dark portals, instant doorways that took them straight to their intended destinations. He never flew in a gummi ship or took ferries or even took cars anywhere. The first time he did, he realized why his subconscious was in such a hurry to keep him from doing so. If he didn't concentrate on doing something during the flight, he often got seasick. Or was it skysick?

"Well, here we are! Disney Castle, home of his Majesty, the King," said Goofy as he came out from the gummi ship from behind Riku and Kairi, lankily marching past them on the ramp. Once he was in front of them, he stretched out his arms in a grand welcoming gesture and let them take in the sight of the hangar as if it were the most magnificent room inside their castle. "Make y'erselves feel at home! My casa is su casa."

Riku ignored the butchered saying and took the greeting for what it was. It made the Captain of the Guard a bit more endearing, at least. The encounters of the past had always left Riku with bad impressions of the knight, so getting to know him after all the emotional baggage had cleared was like starting on a blank slate. He was clumsy with words, but he meant well.

"It's about time we got here, I'm starved," Donald said lightheartedly and grumpily padded out after him. At his feet, the two chipmunks skittered to a stop, one of them standing atop the others' shoulders to combine their height. Riku finally did laugh quietly when he noticed Kairi's surprised expression.

He could imagine her thoughts, _Riku look the little things are TALKING. And they're wearing aprons! Aprons!_

"Everything in order while we were gone?" Donald asked the chipmunks, oblivious to Kairi's gawking.

"Tip top shape!" replied one of the chipmunks. They both turned their attention to Riku and Kairi, encountering them for the very first time.

"Chip," said one.

"And Dale!" said the other.

Both chimed in at once, "At your service."

Two miniature hands were outstretched towards Kairi who had crouched down to get a better look at the smaller animals. She looked down at her own hands with a laugh before she allowed them to shake both (each chipmunk shook a hand, but they only really only had paws big enough to shake one finger at a time).

"These are the two ship mechanics of the castle. They're okay unless you touch or break anything you aren't supposed to. Then they're a pain in your tailfeathers," Donald said, ignoring undignified shouts from Chip and Dale. Riku had the feeling he was speaking from experience. Donald gave a firm nod, "Let's go see His Majesty first."

Riku tried to swallow his impatience. He knew that he wasn't going straight to see Sora, since protocol and political correctness meant they'd need to see the King of the castle first. In fact, he was really looking forward to seeing his old friend. He just… wished he knew if Sora was okay.

"My name is Kairi," she said to her new acquaintances and turned to look behind her where Riku stood. He offered a silent wave to the chipmunks. "And this is Riku."

"Oh we know. We've heard!" One said, hopping down onto the floor and off his companions' shoulders.

"Lots of things!" the other added.

"Come follow us. We'll take you inside!"

"His majesty is waiting inside the library."

The chipmunks both skittered off unexpectedly as a pair of magical walking brooms entered the hangar from the far door, carrying armfuls of oversized tools into the room. Kairi let out a small yelp in surprise as they bristled past her. The first broom absentmindedly dropped a wrench onto the bristles of the second, and they spent ten seconds threateningly sweeping at each other before Donald had to step in.

Riku watched Kairi's back straighten as they settled down and returned to work. She exchanged glances with Riku. What she was thinking was all over her face. Brooms that danced and did chores and fought with each other and - Was this the type of thing Riku and Sora saw all the time?

Riku smirked. She hadn't even seen the more unique residents of Disney Castle yet. She had surveyed the sights and sounds Traverse Town and had been dragged through the underbelly of The World That Never Was, but she'd never seen a more benevolent worlds where little black and white creatures _didn't_ devour hearts. Hard to enjoy things that way, really.

"This is pretty tame. When we see him, ask Sora about Wonderland. That's where the weird stuff is," Riku shrugged and walked casually towards the entrance to the courtyard. "Best not to keep the King waiting then." Kairi followed too with a grin, accompanied by the Magician and the Knight, who took pride in telling them about the different highlights of the rooms they passed. Most of the different chambers had one story or more to tell and Goofy was just a well of information. Sort of like a lanky tour guide in metal armor.

Riku noticed that Kairi had also avoided asking when they'd get around to seeing Sora. Though Kairi wasn't anywhere near as battle-hardened as Riku, but she was still an otherwise strong person on the inside. After losing a heart, being lost in the darkness, wading through heartless and ghostly nobodies in a world that never was and worse, Riku imagined there was little left a person like Kairi was very afraid of. This appeared to be different. That tiny nagging thought was enough to still even her tongue. The last thing either of them wanted in the world was to ask if he was all right and to get grim looks in return. Riku never did ask either, but he was willing to bet that the reasons she was holding his tongue about Sora's possibly grievous injuries were the same as his.

Our of the corner of his eye, Riku could see Kairi leaning forward slightly, as if in an attempt to peer through untamed locks see his face. They passed the Audience Chamber just as Kairi's expression switched from one very thoughtful to a more lighthearted grin. Goofy continued to drone on about the castle's history in the background, the occasional sharp correction from Donald interspersing his speech.

"You're excited to see His Majesty."

"Didn't think I'd be seeing him so soon," he admitted. After Kingdom Hearts had been sealed and Mickey and his entourage had left the islands, he'd had the distinct impression that their next meeting wouldn't happen for a great many years. He knew that Sora or he might have been called away to tend to the nature of the worlds again, but he hadn't expected it to happen only a few weeks after they'd just settled down into their lives as normal kids. Maybe the misguided notion that he actually _deserved_ some kind of warning before the wings of change came sweeping in made him too comfortable. He should have figured from the cryptic message in a bottle that they'd be walking worlds again all too soon.

At least it wasn't too hard to get into the rhythm of travelling again. It was akin to riding a bike (only with monumentally bigger potholes and where the dogs chasing you tended to eat your heart). You never quite forgot how it felt or how to do it. Besides, he thought with a quick glance at Kairi, things are a little bit more interesting this time around. It was all in the company.

"Too bad we only get to visit the King when things go wrong," Riku added.

Kairi drew an invisible square in the air, an imaginary invitation, "Maybe if we had a barbeque, he'd come over more often."

She looked pleased when Riku turned to her and let out a small laugh. "Nice. Maybe on your birthday."

"Two months. Don't forget it," Kairi said.

"I think Sora's is coming up first." His voice was steady, but knew Kairi was snart enough to detect that touch of caution.

Be careful. Don't talk about _it_. Tiptoe. Don't bring up his recovery. _Be careful_ with your words.

They passed through another series of columns that opened up a beautiful view down into the lush, colorful courtyard. She could see the flourishing gardens where they'd first entered. They were getting closer to the the library doors, but Riku followed her gaze and shaded his eyes from the sunlight. Disney Castle was a little bright for his taste, but it was clean and pure, something to appreciate.

"He's easy to shop for, but I want it to be special." She said as they both took in the sight, and Riku instinctively knew that Kairi was feeling a pang of guilt. After all, he was too. They'd missed Sora's last birthday. In fact, at the time, they'd forgotten who he was at all. He'd been sleeping amongst petals of transparent white while Riku and Namine had been scrambling in the dark to put him back together and weave the tears in the tapestry of his memories. Yeah. This year had to be something amazing.

He smirked to lighten the mood. Don't talk about _it._ "He'd probably be happy with a pet rock, as long as it was from you."

"Pet rock? They say that some pets reflect their owners," She laughed. Wish they were seeing him already. "I'll have to get one that knocks over furniture and hogs the bed at night."

"Hope you put as much thought into mine," Riku said.

She nudged his arm, "Don't worry, I have forever until yours. You're a winter baby . You're lucky; They have the best stuff out near Christmas."

Riku thought for a moment and Kairi tilted her head curiously, "Neverland." He said after a time.

"What?" She was puzzled and Riku realized what he'd done. She'd insisted once that one of these days, she'd find a way to figure out how he jumped from topic to topic so fast. Generally people had the sense to have transitions between one topic to another. Riku had a habit of making her head spin.

"For yours. Let's go to Neverland for your birthday. I think you'd like it."

She nodded approvingly. A proper visit (with her heart intact and consciousness present enough to appreciate the trip this time) was due, "Let's tell Sora when we see him."

Their conversation came to a stop as they neared the double doors of the library where the King resided. Goofy and Donald opened the doors, and led the way as Chip and Dale skittered in alongside Riku and Kairi. The room opened up into a grand library with shelves upon shelves of books that spanned three of the four walls. A mahogany desk stood at one end, covered in paper work and wonky little charms from various worlds in the center of it. Pluto's precious bed cushion sat a mere two feet away from it accompanied by a bowl. A crackle to their left alerted Riku to the fireplace where someone stood engrossed in the pages of a tattered old book.

On approach their, he lifted his head and gave a familiar smile that Riku wasn't surprised he missed, "Well gee, you folks got here real fast!"

"We didn't bother packing anything… and the parking was good," Riku replied and give the King's hand an awkward shake. Without hesitation, Mickey pulled him down into a hug. Riku tensed at first and then relaxed into the embrace like an old friend. The King had a habit of making him feel more welcome than he thought he deserved. "It's good to see you, Majesty."

Mickey slung the book under his arm and rested a hand on his hip, "Riku, I told ya before, it's not Majesty. We're friends, so it's Mickey to you."

"Sorry um… Mickey. Habit, I guess," He shrugged.

"And the same goes for you too, Kairi. You can call me Mickey too," the King nodded and then turned to Donald and Goofy, who gave bashful chuckles when he followed up with, "I try to get these two ta' call me that but it looks like they're stuck."

Kairi gave a slight bow to the king in respect, "I'm honored, Mickey. How have things been since we last saw each other?"

Kairi smiled. Invisible words on her tongue. _Where is he?_

Mickey exhaled, expression slightly grimmer, "Golly a lot has sure happened since we talked."

Riku noticed Kairi's smile wavering, but only a moment. Her worries were only a ripple on the surface, the very image of a willful young woman flickering doubt.

"I'm sure. It's probably why you brought us here, right?" Riku guessed. Was Kairi's heart going through the same thing that his was? Panic. Mickey nodded.

Riku's composure never cracked, even as he asked, "You're still running into problems, even after we cleared away Organization XIII?"

"Well, things sure have quieted down since they're gone," Mickey said, "But now things are back where they started."

Riku understood. The Heartless had been the problem since the beginning, even before Organization XIII had begun their existential experiments and their exploits to bring about Kingdom Hearts. They were only memories now. In terms of the heartless, there was still no end in sight in their battle against the heartless.

Organization XIII was like a third team on the playing field where there was only supposed to be two. Once the shady group of individuals were dismissed from the arena, it didn't take long for the players to figure out that the game was still in play. While many worlds were certainly much safer with their hearts sealed, far more worlds were still vulnerable to the remaining heartless. Other worlds still had heartless who ravaged worlds on the surface.

"So that's why Sora left home?" Kairi asked.

Goofy gave them a contemplative 'Humm,' before voicing his thoughts, "Well that's kinda sorta why, but not really…"

Riku's impatience grew.

"This was supposed to be the last time," Donald said, with an almost apologetic tone.

Last time to fight? Last time to quest? Last time to fix the worlds? Last keyhole, least heart of the world, last _what?_ Kairi wondered, equally uneasy.

Mickey placed the book on the mantle of the fireplace, "I'm not even sure we can really tell you what happened in one sitting, but the short of it is that we ran into some trouble on some worlds. We handled the situation, but Sora took the hits a little harder than us."

_There_ it is, Kairi knew.

Donald let his arms relax at his side, "So we went back to Disney Castle to heal up instead of clearing more heartless off all those sealed worlds," he said. "Sora just needed some rest."

"Is he really hurt?" Kairi wondered, inching forward a bit, though her arm remained hooked within Riku's. He hadn't even remembered her reaching out to him.

This time, Mickey was glad to explain, "He's fine now. Nothing a little Curaga and time won't fix."

A tiny echo of relief, reverberating through the bond they shared.

"So what's this about it being the last time?" Riku wondered. "Just what was everyone intending to do to get rid of the darkness for good?"

"Sorta… kinda hard to explain." The court magician scratched his head.

"Sora knows more so you can ask him. He can explain," Goofy offered before he was interrupted by a swift kick in the knee from Donald. The duck followed up with a harsh shush which made Goofy apparently realize his mistake. He was quick to cover his mouth, "Oops."

"Couple weeks and already he's neck deep in trouble," Riku shook his head. Their tight-lipped explanations had him in a less than stellar mood. They were barely giving an inkling of what had occurred, and he was getting vibes from Kairi that she was thinking the same thing. Not that he was going to call them on it, of course. He didn't particularly know Goofy or Donald that well, but he and King Mickey harbored a deep understanding of the other. They could even finish each others sentences at times. If the King saw fit to withhold information, it was probably for good reason.

He didn't have to like it though.

"Gawrsh, Riku. Don't be too hard on Sora for leavin' without tellin you two nothin'. He's still all worn out, ya know?" Goofy said worriedly.

"We'll take it easy on him. We'll at least wait until he's more awake," He heard Kairi offer a light laugh, but the doors to the library opened and the pleasant visage of the queen came into their vision. All the patrons of the room gave slight bows, which she returned with a nod, save for Mickey who came to her and took her hands in his.

"You won't have to wait long. He's awake if you'd like to see him," Minnie spoke, lightening the mood with her upbeat tone. "He's in the guest room."

"Well, gee, Minnie, that's good news if I ever heard any," Mickey laughed. "You always have the best timing."

"All in a days work," she chimed back. Kairi took Riku's arm tighter into hers when the royal pair leaned in close for an Eskimo kiss, nose to nose and eyes closed.

"Well, what're we waiting for, let's go see Sora," Donald said.

---

Time passed more slowly in Disney Kingdom.

Instead of the break-neck pace most worlds had, this world's speed was comparable to a leisurely afternoon stroll. The patrons of the castles moved at their own pace, singing or (in the case of Clara Cluck, the resident musical diva) clucking in opera as they did their daily chores. The world had a bounce in its step, one that permeated everything and everyone on it so well that Riku could almost hear faint music in the back of his mind. He knew it was his imagination, but sometimes he swore the people of Disney Castle were moving in sync to this music.

He'd been to so many worlds that becoming attune to the natural rhythm was like second nature to him. He could be at any world and he could simply pause, listen to the wind and find the beat well enough so that he could blend in with the locals as if he'd lived there all his life. He was practically an expert.

That was why when Riku suddenly felt the hairs on his neck stand up and the invisible music he'd just begun to walk to stopped as he approached Sora's room, Riku knew something was wrong. Donald and Goofy seemed oblivious to the change, but Kairi frowned beside him, her eyes drawn to the same doors at the end of the hall that Riku's were. It was almost as if someone had flipped a switch and suddenly, the imaginary orchestra that played the world's theme song in his head ended in a nerve-wracking screech.

Donald and Goofy spun around, curious as to why Riku and Kairi were not following anymore.

He held his breath, afraid to detect the familiar scent of the enemy on the wind. In his mind, the image of haunting yellow eyes danced, placing over him a stillness very close to being fear. He could sense it. The thick, sickening scent of heartless filled with malice and greed. He was too familiar with the smell to ever forget it. He didn't know what it meant if the heartless were back in the castle.

"Riku," Kairi said worriedly.

"I know," he said.

And the tension snapped.

The next second, he was flying down the hall towards the guest room so fast the squeak of his sneakers were echoing in the hallway. The run seemed to stretch forever and the smell of darkness became thicker as he approached. His heart was racing, and the deep urgency sticking in his chest like a knife summoned the Way To Dawn in his tense fingers. The feel of the keyblade in his hand was familiar and comforting amidst his panic.

He could smell the dark nearby.

He didn't even slow himself as he neared the guestroom doors and they swung open with his momentum as he burst through them. The doors swung open and hit the adjoining walls with two loud thuds. He surveyed in the room. Like a seasoned warrior, he scanned for both immediate threats and the layout itself: the bed tucked against the wall, an open window just above it, the open balcony doors, all the exits of the room…

Instantly, he noticed how empty the bed where Sora was supposed to be. The blankets were tangled and mussed. The table in the corner was overturned, and a puddle remained on the floor where a cup had fallen. Most of the furniture was askew, as if a scuffle had taken place. Red flags everywhere.

"Sora!" said Kairi as she came inside with Donald and Goofy hot on her heels. The three of them had finally caught up with Riku, looking alarmed.

"What's going on?" Goofy wondered, taken back by Riku's sudden outburst.

Donald shook his head once he'd had a chance to look around, "This is a mess!"

"And Sora ain't here either," Goofy said worriedly and opened the door to an adjoining room, as if they had all just entered the wrong one and Sora was simply sleeping in the next.

Riku was already moving away from the entrance to the far side of the room. He gripped the keyblade in hand as he tracked the thick stench of darkness thickened to its worst. It was overwhelmingly strong, a pungent and almost sweet smell in his nose. He grunted in annoyance when all he found at the end of the invisible trail was an empty balcony framed by flowing, almost transparent curtains. There were no heartless around, and breathing in the scent again revealed that whatever heartless may have appeared was no longer there. What he was sensing was residual traces of the culprit. It was gone, and maybe Sora with it.

"Where could he be? We just saw him this morning!" Donald padded over to the closet and scratched his head when he found no other clues to his whereabouts.

"Me and Clara brought him food and everything," Goofy said. And that's when something caught Riku's ears. Distant barking down below. Definitely Pluto, and from the excited, hitch pitched yapping he was making, something had gotten him riled up below. So Riku strode to the edge of the balcony and peered over the railing.

"The heartless maybe?" Donald wondered, still ambling about the room.

"We've got to tell Mickey," Kairi said and her first instinct was to move back the way they came. To head to the library where the King still was.

"Right!"

Goofy nodded firmly and gave a salute, "An' I'll tell everybody to search the castle too! He might still be 'round here."

"Now wait just a second, Goofy! It's way too dangerous if this thing is still here. We can't have everyone looking. What if they find _it_?" Donald said. His words must have set off alarms in Kairi's head because she stared at him for a long time.

That is, until Riku's emotions filtered through that strange an invisible connection they had discovered they shared on the island. He had even dismissed his keyblade by the time that Kairi had recognized the signs. He was usually the one to take charge in any situation where Sora was in danger, so his uncharacteristic silence was something to note. She moved up behind him, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"Hold on," Riku said to the others just as they began to leave the room. Something crept along their connection, something that Kairi could barely identify as a flame of mirth and a cool rush of relief. "It's okay."

Donald scrambled to his side, sticking his head between the long balusters of the railing to see what Riku was talking about. "What? What happened?"

Kairi was right behind in casting her eyes out into the courtyard below. Her shoulders loosened and her posture relaxed. Her lips curled into a smile, "Pluto happened."

"Gawrsh, ya mean all that mess was all because…?"

Donald scoffed, "… Cause that pesky dog wanted to play."

In the courtyard below, the motley bunch could see Sora in the Gardens. He was clad in black trousers and a red shirt with gold trim, the typical garb of one of Disney Kingdom's soldiers in casual wear. Pluto was with him, tumbling in the flowers and the two were spending their time chasing each other between the carefully pruned foliage. It was a far cry from what the image of him injured and hurt, especially since they _thought_ he was recovering from his injuries in bed.

He looked hardly touched at all.

"That nincompoop! Nearly gave me a heart attack!" Donald said, waving the wand he had summonded threateningly. "When I get down there, I'll give him a good whack!"

"I'm glad," Goofy said. "Better a false alarm than the real thing."

Riku was right behind Donald in wanting to give Sora a piece of his mind. He could feel the irritation creep up amidst his laughter and gratefulness, but he felt Kairi's arms wrap around his shoulders from behind. It easily quelled the rising feeling. He raised an eyebrow at her as she pressed closer to him, forgetting why he'd been irritated in the first place.

"The stairs would take too long," was all that Kairi said. Somehow, Riku understood and with a smirk, he took hold of her hands to strengthen her grip around him.

"Hang on," Riku said and he took some steps back. Kairi only let out a squeal of delight when he ran forward, leapt over the railing and all at once, they were both airborne.

---

By the time that Sora realized that Pluto was barking at something behind him (or rather, _above_ him), the wind had picked up, sending leaves and petals into the air in a whirlwind of color. The morning air was filled with the taste of freedom, sweet and refreshing.

Pluto must have sensed it too because he'd burst into the room earlier that morning like a newborn puppy brimming with energy, bounding all over the guest room before crashing into Sora and slobbering all over his face like they hadn't seen each other in years.

Pluto's barking, though, just would not let up. So Sora, wanting to know just what was so important, turned up in time to see two figures in freefall, their laughter ringing in his ears like a song. He could have sworn that time had slowed as the two figures fell from the balcony and through the sea of petals. One was a blur of cheerful pink and the other a pure blue and white. Their landing was as light as a feather and just as soundless.

He couldn't conceal his surprise when Kairi slipped off of Riku's back and came running towards him, arms outstretched.

Their meeting was a familiar one, one that reminded him of their reunion on the World that Never Was as she crashed headlong into his arms. He barely managed to keep his balance after the collision. To make matters worse, Pluto felt left out of the game, which simply wouldn't do for him, so he leapt towards Sora and the three of them finally landed in a bed of flowers in a pile of laughter and petals. His grin by then was so wide that it hurt. Kairi's laugher filled the air again and he relished the feel of her arms around his waist.

He laid there for only a moment before he felt a sharp bop on his head. He rubbed the sore spot and gave Kairi an offended look.

"You already know what that's for," Kairi said and Sora gave her a guilty grin as he sat up. "At least say it to me in person if you go anywhere."

Riku was already kneeling by their side, cool and collected as always. He placed a hand on Sora's shoulder, which Sora took into his and squeezed like they always did. Then Sora, knowing exactly how to ruin the mood, started a series of hand-shakes and familiar motions that Riku mirrored with his own hands. All 'best buds' had their secret handshakes and Riku was secretly happy to oblige when Sora started theirs.

"Thought you could leave us behind?" Riku remarked. "Nice try."

"And warn me before you give me another heart attack," Kairi said right after, taking Sora's hands in hers, "We saw your room and it looked like an army marched through."

Sora scratched the back of his head and motioned to Pluto, implicating the true criminal.

Kairi scooted closer as well, placing an arm behind Sora and resting her head on his shoulder. For the first time since her arrival, she felt like she could relax. Everyone had assured her that Sora was in one piece, but actually seeing him in person and touching him was a sort of confirmation that words could not provide.

"We figured as much. You're supposed to be healing up in your room. Not out here communing with nature," Riku said with a smirk as Sora only sighed, blowing one a stray lock of hair out of his face. As if they could really keep him down for long. Recovering or not, Sora had never been able to sit still for more than a few hours let alone a few days. He'd been that way since they were kids, and Riku knew it.

"How are you feeling?" Kairi wondered. Sora held out his hand and gave them a 'so-so' motion. "Really? I heard you were in trouble."

Sora paused, as if he were unsure of what to say. He lifted his hands as if to narrate a story, but then lowered them when he couldn't find the motions, feeling irritated. Riku narrowed his eyes just a little as Kairi asked, "…Sora? What's wrong?"

Sora only bit his bottom lip and tugged distractedly at his collar. When Kairi still received no answer from Sora, Riku said, "You're awful quiet."

When Sora looked away, Riku could no longer hide his suspicion. Sora was deliberately holding his tongue. If there were two things in the world that Sora could not live without doing, it was always being on the move … and talking up a storm. The Sora they stumbled upon today had yet to utter even a word.

Riku quickly scanned Sora for injuries, finding nothing save for the occasional bandage around the arm (which was minor, and ended up looking more like a bad fashion statement than an honest attempt for recovery) and the medical tape holding gauze to his cheek. Being this close to Sora, he could even feel the very aura his friend exuded and it was filled with nothing malevolent as far as he could see. His body was healthy and his aura was sound. So what could have been wrong?

They heard the crunch of leaves behind them as the King and Queen approached apprehensively. It felt as if a grey cloud were hovering over them as the atmosphere suddenly became heavier. Something was wrong. Sora's inability to look either of them in the eye confirmed it.

"Sora's had some trouble speakin' since he got back," King Mickey informed them as Sora dutifully found the most interesting patch of grass and picked at it. Kairi leaned back and placed a worried hand over her lips. Mickey's voice was apologetic, as if he were at fault. Riku knew better, though. Mickey had the miraculous ability to make the right decisions in even the most dire of situations, and he doubted that whatever was wrong with Sora was due to the King's negligence. He mentally picked at the King's words for any other clue as to what his friend might have gone through, "He writes just fine, but out loud's a problem."

"You can't talk at all?" Kairi wondered, and Sora shook his head no, still not looking at them. Kairi couldn't seem to accept it, "I thought he was good now. Why would this happen? Is this from the heartless?"

Donald and Goofy, who had approached them a few moments prior, finally made their presence known. Donald spoke first, doing his best to answer the barrage of questions, "Maybe. Nobody knows for sure."

Mickey nodded. "Until a few days ago, we thought he was just weak from the fight. When he was here in the castle, all the places he was hurt got better, so we thought he'd recover that last bit. But the way things are looking now…"

"So he's not better after all, is he?"

"Well he was supposed to be. He just can't…. yanno. Talk."

Riku dug into the heart of the matter, "Since when?"

"Like I said before, it happened when we all ran into some trouble on a few worlds we were patrollin." Mickey explained.

Riku never took his eyes off Sora, "So is that the only reason that's why Sora's here. He left because he had to take care of leftover heartless?" Mickey hesitated, and then gave a half-nod which Riku supposed was as good as he was going to get. This time, Sora frowned at Riku when he continued, "I dunno, it seems like something that'd be done quicker if he _wasn't_ alone. You know. If he brought friends."

Sora had the grace to look guilty.

"It's a long story, really. One better left for another time when you've rested up after such a long trip. All your answers will come in time. Just know that we brought you two out here for a reason. If anybody knows Sora best, its you two. Maybe you just bein' here with him would help wake up that part of him that's sleepin'," Mickey said. Sora whipped around until he faced the king, urgent expression on his face. It was almost pleading. What he was trying to say to the King, Riku wasn't sure, but it sure had changed the King's countenance. Afterwards, his words were more clipped and vague than they already were.

Riku felt nothing less than exasperated, though he was careful not to show it. All this wouldn't have happened if Sora just had the sense to take his best friends with him for once. They'd refused to get left behind before, and Sora knew better than to even try this time. One way or another, they'd find a way to follow him. In fact they'd spent several long midsummer afternoons on the island talking him out of his fears of losing them, and getting him excited about showing them all the worlds he'd seen. They'd spent enough time separated.

Hadn't he heard a word they said?

Here he was trying to play the lone wolf when he was obviously a team player. He belonged with Riku and Kairi, regardless how dangerous he thought the journey was. It might not have been written down on paper, but they'd had an _agreement. _

It wasn't supposed to be this way, Riku thought looking at Sora.

Where was their happily ever after? Wasn't it about time that things finally went right for them?

Riku let the anger go for once and internally sighed, feeling tired, "What is it we have to do?"

Mickey took Riku's hand and Kairi's hand and placed them both over Sora's in a way that spoke volumes in itself. "What you folks do best."

And out of the corner of his eye, Riku spied Sora's smile.

He couldn't help but wonder why it looked so sad.


	3. Ch 2 The Things We Hide

**Whispers in the Dark**

Author's Notes: Thanks so much for your reviews. It really encourages me to write :) . And infinite thanks to my beta FrostFromFire. I am completely incapable of doing ANYTHING without her, and she's ultimately the best beta I have ever had. I don't deserve her .

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[ Chapter 02: The Things We Hide ]

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The face is the mirror of the mind. Eyes without speaking confess the secrets of the heart.  
- **S****aint Jerome **

All secrets are deep. All secrets become dark. That's in the nature of secrets.  
**- Cory Doctorow**

---

Walking through the cool shade of the castle gardens, Riku briefly wondered if the residents of Disney Castle knew that most suns on other worlds were too bright to look at with the naked eye.

Most of them didn't have discernable _faces_ either_._

It was this unique world trait that distracted Riku the most. The sun had a strange inclination for welcoming newcomers, taking every opportunity to bestow him with a warm smile from its lofty home in the sky (he imaged Sora elbowing him, "_Warm_ smile? Sun? Get it?"). Riku only realized he was making a horrible face at it when Kairi asked if he had food poisoning.

Besides swallowing his pride every now and then, he hadn't eaten much of anything as of late. He tried to keep his expression under tight guard after that, but the feeling of being watched didn't creep him out any less.

Donald and Goofy didn't so much as blink at the thing. Sometimes they even _waved_ at it, testament to fact that whatever Riku considered insane was pretty commonplace in the Enchanted Kingdom.

Riku could imagine a snarling hydra sprouting extra heads. He could imagine swinging through the sweltering jungle on withering tree vines. He could ignore ghouls cracking grim jokes under the bed. But a smiling sun? He didn't know why it bothered him so much.

_And does it really have to STARE at me all the damn time?_

On the bright side, it was easy to get distracted in a world like that, which was precisely what he wanted to be. Aside from a sun with a charming personality, there were living microphones performing show tunes and primping poodles strutting around on their hindquarters around every corner. Each spectacle was more impressive than the last in a constant effort of the world to one up itself in oddities.

Figures this was one of Sora's favorite places. If he weren't sleeping, he'd probably be playing hide and seek with the Court Mage's nephews or rolling around in the dirt with the puppies.

The boy in question was in a deep slumber, having been ushered to his room by Clarabelle. With Kairi at his side, it hadn't taken long for Sora to drift back into peaceful sleep.

That left Riku to his own devices and gave him a chance to get some fresh air into his lungs, air that wasn't heavy with unspoken feelings. He was likely to just bring down the mood if he stayed. Or kick something (which probably wasn't a good idea, because whatever object he kicked might be alive and would just as likely kick him back).

Riku trailed up the steps of the castle entrance, narrowly sidestepping a panicked horse on rollerskates. Kairi would've loved that, he was sure.

In the back of his mind, he marveled at Kairi's composure. She and Sora had 'spoken' earlier in the day about the new things she'd seen (though it was more of Kairi speaking, Sora making ridiculous motions, and Kairi understanding most of the time).

It was almost offensive the way that Sora was ignoring the issues at hand. In fact, Riku was having a hard time even being in the same room with him without thinking about how Sora had left them without so much as a word. Again.

Sometimes he wondered if Sora was just pretending like he didn't see Kairi and Riku going quietly insane.

His expression was grim.

If Kairi hadn't been there, he wasn't sure how things would've panned out between them. Or what he'd understand of Sora's attempts to communicate. Maybe he and Sora would've just sat in companionable silence. Sora wasn't hard to please so long as the person who stayed with him was someone he cared about deeply. He would've been just as happy with an afternoon staring at the wall with Riku as he was with Kairi's one-sided conversations.

Thank heaven Kairi understood the two of them better than she thought she did. Riku was glad that if anyone had made it through the at least some of the barriers of his heart, it was Kairi.

Riku had effectively built up walls to shut people out of his private thoughts from the time that he was young to the moment he'd been freed from the darkness. It was Kairi who had showed blatant disregard for his self loathing and made it a point to be there every time doubt crept like a parasite under his skin. Riku was at home in the light. He welcomed it now, however unworthy a marred soul like him was.

There was only that little bit left, that final place that eve Riku rarely dared to think about let alone explore. There was still potential for something to be lurking in the hidden nooks and crannies of his mind, festering and seething like a wound yet untreated. While Kairi had gone farther than most people dared, she might find a piece of him that she couldn't understand, a piece of him too permanently tarnished by the grasping darkness to fix. There was no shame in being afraid, and he didn't think lesser of her for it.

How did someone like him end up on a world like this, surrounded by friends and adopted family?

Another loud clatter interrupted his thoughts. A quick glance to his right revealed another specialized room of Disney Castle that he hadn't discovered until now. Bold writing in what appeared to be permanent black marker labeled the doors a distinguished 'Department of Science'.

He made sure to tell himself to take Kairi on a tour around the castle and show her what he'd found.

He was on the verge of continuing on his introspective train of thought when a wild squawk erupted behind the closed doors. While something like that wouldn't strike him as unusual in a world like the Enchanted Kingdom, he did have the instinct of someone who could feel danger coming.

He felt it now, beating in his chest, even if the muffled squawk behind the door was a poor warning.

An explosion sent the door flying outwards. If not for quick reflexes sharpened by months of intense battles, he would have gotten clipped by a speeding block of wood that _used_ to be part of a door.

Riku had turned away from the blast and covered his head as pieces of debris and parts of the wall came showering down on the area outside the hall. Smoke billowed out into the hallway like a dark cloud, invading his lungs and sending him into a violent coughing fit. He was on his feet in barely a second's time as the person inside the room came waddling out.

"Vhat an incredible reaction!" the culprit laughed behind the curtain of smoke. Riku was dazed only for a half a second before he gathered his wits.

"What the hell!?" Riku said, still coughing slightly in the gray haze. "What is your _problem!?"_

If not for the foreign accent, he could have sworn that Donald had come out of the smoke. The duck was covered in soot and black grime, but Riku could still make out distinct bird-like features. Where Donald was younger and cleaner cut, this one was older and a bit on the scraggly side (though after the explosion, that was understandable).

The duck pulled the spectacles from his face and attempted to wipe them clean his shirt, only making them dirtier instead.

He took Riku's question literally, "Vell, ze problem? I'd say it is definitely in ze material. Goodness, I should haff added more kick!"

"More… kick," Riku said, knowing the stranger misunderstood the gravity of the situation. The lab had _exploded._ Was what happened so commonplace that Riku's fury was easily overlooked? He wasn't sure door-dodging was something people here did on a daily basis. Riku's agenda had more to do with self-reflection, making sure Sora didn't make a fool of him in front of other people and doing damage control whenever Kairi felt the urge to share embarrassing childhood stories. Not this. "Don't you think you coulda killed someone?"

"Oh, good heaffens no! Most everybody has ze sense not to go near zis room. Zere are very serious experiments going on in ze lab," he gave Riku a feathered pat on the arm, the only part of him he could reach. Riku stepped away from the stranger's touch and dusted off the imprint of black feathers.

"Somebody could get hurt," the duck said with a chuckle. Riku hardly found it endearing.

"You think?" Riku gazed into the aforementioned lab. It _looked_ like he _felt_. Beakers and test tubes were shattered. Other pieces of scientific equipment were in shambles. What little furniture and desks were inside the room were covered with scorch marks or debris. "What in the hell was that?"

"Vell, to be honest, I'm not so sure myself," he said with another chuckle.

"That was all for kicks and giggles…?" Riku was incredulous.

"I may not haff known vat caused ze reaction, but I always haff reasons behind everything I do! Zat vas for the advancement of ze scientific community! Very important," he said, nodding thoughtfully as he straightened his charred coat and marched straight back into his demolished lab.

_For the good of all_, _huh?_ Riku thought looking at the half-demolished lab. He doubted the duck had any intention of cleaning up the mess. One of the unfortunate magical brooms would have the privilege of dealing with it later.

The duck continued, oblivious to Riku's criticizing inner dialogue. "…After all, who else can help ze king vin ze var?"

Riku blinked, anger only partly forgotten as he straightened his own jacket, "Win the var?" He corrected himself, "Er… war?"

"Vhy yes! Ze var. Haven't you heard?" He said, inviting curiosity.

Riku glanced down the hall. He had two choices: indulge in a question that would likely spark an entire hour's worth of scientific prattle… or make his escape down the hall and forget this ever happened. He'd nearly been impaled by flying pieces of wood in passing. Who knew what would happen if he stayed for an additional ten minutes? If Riku knew anything, it was that history tended to repeat itself. The longer he was around this supposed professor, the bigger the chance that he'd end up black and covered in soot. Was it really worth pursuing?

Riku paused for a moment, an amused thought rising above all else: Sora would've already jumped at the chance to learn something new, wouldn't he?

With a bit of reluctance, Riku stepped inside over an overturned chair and into the lab. He was careful not to step on anything or lose his balance.

He stumbled back anyway when the duck whipped around, finger outstretched. "Ze var for ze reduction of ze darkness and ze improvement of ze quality of life for ze citizens of ze Kingdom, of course!"

Riku's heart skipped for a moment, instantly forgetting that he'd nearly been impaled by splintered wood. He'd been at this world-saving business far too long.

_Hold on a second, don't get excited. Remember who you're talking to._

Had the duck even shown him anything resembling aptitude for science? He tried not to look too condescending (Kairi said he made this face…) as his usual skepticism kicked back in full swing. No way this duck had any idea how to get rid of the heartless or the roaming nobodies that still remained. Not more than him, anyway. Riku had been completely immersed in the darkness for several months, letting it burrow and tunnel deep in his heart, weaving its threads of power into his very being. He had all the drive to learn everything he could about the dark forces that he'd sold his soul to. At one point he could even call himself obsessed. If anyone knew about the darkness, it was Riku.

Still, his curiosity lingered. However comical the source, if he could find a way to banish the enemy, he would take it. He would take anything he could get.

"You know to get rid of the darkness?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

The duck gave a firm shake of his head, "Something like zat would never happen."

Another piece of his careful composure fell away. Riku was completely lost. "Wait, I thought you said-"

"I vowed to reduce ze darkness, not eliminate it. Such a feat would be impossible," the scientist replied to Riku, and he could suddenly feel the pull of despair beneath his chest. He shook his head. No. There had to be a way, Riku thought to himself.

The duck cleared his throat, "Zat is ze way ze universe works best: in balance. Balance is essential. Where zere is shadow, zere must be light. Where zere is evil, zere must also be good. Ze light and darkness vill forever coexist."

"Then… what's the point? I mean, just … wait a second, who the heck are you, anyway," he said, trying to absorb the information. This guy really caught him at a time when he wasn't in the mood to put up with much.

Still, he felt the need to avoid major confrontation. For all he knew this quack was royalty and the last thing that Riku wanted was to get Mickey into trouble with neighboring worlds and Kingdoms. If Riku's luck persisted the way it had in the past, he would likely be the cause of some political upheaval all because he was incapable of belittling someone's intelligence.

"Ludwig Von Drake. It is a pleasure to meet you, Riku," he said shook Riku's hand.

"You know my name," Riku was taken aback.

"Vhy of course! Everyone in ze castle knows who you are."

"I didn't know I was so popular," he said a little flatly.

"Ze king tells us much of you, and we've heard many stories from other travelers who have heard of your exploits."

"Really now," Riku said, crossing his arms.

"Besides, I haff observed much of vhat I know of ze darkness from vhat ze king and you have experienced. You are ze base for most of my scientific theories of ze darkness." He said, not realizing what a warped compliment it was. Ludwig then turned away, pulling open drawers and gathering whatever few unbroken vials and beakers were left.

Riku's confused anger churned cold in his stomach.

Riku had prayed his experiences and darker memories could stay buried in the back of his mind. They were things that Riku had yet to think over, let alone learned to live with. And now there was someone who claimed to know even a fraction of the trials and tribulations he had experienced? Whatever this duck _thought_ he knew, he was probably wrong. Besides, his journey was deeply personal, riddled with harrowing mistakes that few souls should ever know about. That was hardly any of _his_ business.

Mickey was too smart and too dignified to reveal anything except his own personal experiences (and come on, if Riku was going to be the source of rumors, why couldn't it ever be about his good looks and charm?). This probably meant that Ludwig had somehow dug up and researched the information himself. From witness accounts, Yen Sid, the old files at Radiant Garden… something like that.

Riku's closest friends had yet to even effectively broach the subject and here a stranger was, already entrenched in his life. If the duck was familiar with his exploits in the past, then he should have already known Riku wasn't one to be crossed.

Riku's words were clipped as he turned to leave, "I'm not an experiment."

He had left with the hope of never seeing Ludwig again.

Riku had the distinct feeling that they'd be running into each other again in the future.

---

Kairi knew Sora had to be around there somewhere; She was sure of it. The last time she'd gone to the optometrist, they'd told her she had better eyesight than the average person. She could even see in the dark just a little bit, able to navigate through her house in the dead of night simply for a glass of water.

Spotting Sora should've been a breeze, even during a chase.

She was running down the corridor not in the dark of her home, but in the clear radiance of perfect daylight streaming into the castle from skylights overhead. She'd spotted him going this direction earlier and turned the corner with just as much speed. She slowed her sprint as The Great Hall came into view, vast and proud, at the end of the corridor. Still, he was nowhere in sight.

One thing that did manage to catch her attention was the subtle click of the kitchen door as it swung closed. The daily meals of the castle were prepared well before the actual dining times, so it made sense that the cooks and the maids would be shuffling in and out of the kitchens regularly.

Still, she had an inkling that it was him trying to escape. It was a feeling that wouldn't go away and strengthened with every step that she took towards it. By the time that she reached forward and placed her hand on the doorknob, she was positive he was in there.

She'd expected to burst through the doors, pointing her finger like a death sentence and watching him freeze like a deer in headlights. The timing, his shocked expression, the clear ring of Kairi's "Aha!" – it would come together in one dramatic moment of capture.

All she managed to do was pose triumphantly in an empty room.

Only slightly embarrassing.

She was starting to think maybe she'd lost him farther back, because even after scanning every nook and cranny for even the smallest sighting of spiked brown hair or the telltale red of his tailored red shirt, she found nothing. He wasn't in any of the cupboards (just in case he thought Kairi wouldn't look there); He wasn't hiding in any supply closets or food pantries. He wasn't even hiding behind any of the crates, which were just cluttered enough that she might have hidden there herself if she were the one doing the hiding.

The only explanation left was that he'd magically teleported himself out of the kitchen while she wasn't looking. She was blocking one exit while the other exit she took great care to keep in her line of sight.

Maybe he'd learned some sort of weird magic travelling the worlds that allowed him to be visible to everyone except redheads in pink. Maybe he'd learned some cheap teleportation spell he'd been saving up for occasions like this. She didn't know.

Not that she'd give up trying to find him though. Feeding him a piece of that dish she'd been saving was something she'd been waiting to do ever since they'd arrived. She'd just been waiting for the right time to do it.

The trouble had started when he'd woken from his sleep, fresh faced and ready to face the morning. She'd been waiting at his bedside like a good friend, greeting him and welcoming him to the world of the waking with an offer he couldn't refuse. There was something she wanted him to try.

She should have known he was up to no good when his face froze only moments before he slipped from the bed and bolted out the door. Being a year apart from Sora and having his memories altered still hadn't properly erased what he'd remembered of her cooking.

Yep. Those particular memories of her were definitely still intact.

"Come on," she called, peering around the counter and then under the table. "It's only a little piece. Don't be a baby."

She tapped her fingers thoughtfully on the metal counter where her Jam and Mustard Potatoes sat, bubbling impatiently. Right where she left it. Now where could Sora be?

As if to answer her question, a sudden racket made her jump and her heart skip a beat. A metal pan clattered to the floor nearby, and Kairi raised her eyes to see what had made it fall. Lo and behold, Sora was crouched atop a stacked food cart just above her head. He was giving the deer in the head light's look, but it was slightly less effective when he was five feet off the ground and Kairi was looking up at him.

"Sora!" she said as he leapt over her like a maniac, landing on the side of the counter where she couldn't reach. He had a frantic grin on his face, and for good reason.

Knowing that this was her best chance to get a hold of Sora, she made a dash one way around the table. Sora, wise to her ways, made an equally desperate dash the other direction. This wasn't even about the food anymore. Now it was just a battle of wills between a determined young woman and a boy with nowhere left to run.

Kairi halted in place, not wanting him to get close enough to an exit to make a break for it. If she kept him in here, she still had a chance.

She tried the other direction, but Sora had stopped so abruptly that his sneakers made a high pitched squeaking noise. He mirrored her action and ran the other way to avoid being caught.

They ran like that, back and forth, trying to get the better of each others' movements. They were so caught up in the game, they couldn't help but knock over the occasional pastry and utensil onto the floor.

Through the noise of clattering, giggling, and the shuffling of clothes, it was like they were kids again, playing tag on the beach with the sun shining through the swaying leaves of the palm trees.

Finally, when Kairi managed to get the advantage and Sora was within reach, he slipped away and pushed himself up and onto the counter.

Despite letting Sora get away, the memory of them running along the shoreline still so real in her mind that the warmth lingered on her skin. It drew out her laughter before she could help herself. It was so clear and filled with joy that Sora seemed to be distracted for just a moment. The next thing he knew, he set foot on the ground and his escape was foiled by a misstep.

---

Sora's feet went out from under him and all he could see overhead was the white tile of the ceiling. He'd had a brilliant escape plan, one that _would_ have succeeded if he'd just made it to the door. It had been a straight shot, two steps away. What could have possibly-?

Oh.

The yellow custard covering the side of his boot held the answer. He had slipped on one of the fallen pastries they'd knocked over in their earlier scrambling. He never thought he'd regret being surrounded by so much dessert. He loved sweets. Just not on his shoes.

Kairi stood over him, hands righteously on her hips.

"I've caught you mister, and there's nothing you can do about it," Kairi said, mirth and amusement ringing in her voice. She was really enjoying this, wasn't she? Sora sat up and rubbed his head, the ends of his lips curling up into an involuntary smile. She held out her hand, delicate and perfect, and he took it.

Once he was on his feet and steady, he spared a glance at her dish . It was waiting patiently on the counter in what was literally a silver platter.

He intensified his glare, willing it to disappear before his very eyes. He'd had similar encounters with vegetables in his earlier childhood years, but the result was still the same. Even now, he still didn't have the mental powers to make them sprout legs and scatter to the other ends of the room. That particular skill he had yet to learn from Merlin. The dish bubbled in response, weakening his reserve not to run. After all, Kairi was relaxed, drunk with the prospect of victory. Maybe if he could just sort of inch towards the-

Kairi shook her head, positioning herself between him and the door, his last hope to avoid a grisly fate snatched away at the last moment. He looked back at his captor with a pathetic face.

"Yes. Yes you have to. Do you know what I went through to bring that here?" She insisted. Riku had forced her to duct tape its container shut in order to prevent more of the odor from seeping out into the gummi ship's galley. She'd spent nearly fifteen minutes while Sora slept wrestling with the extra layers Donald had put on it.

His attempts to appeal to her more merciful side failed when she finished with a lighthearted, "You owe me."

Sora visibly flinched. All in all, the moment was comical and Kairi had as good a sense of humor as anyone Sora had come across. He just wondered if Kairi had sensed it too: how her words lingered in the air, heavy with meaning. It was an indirect reminder of all the promises he had yet to keep.

He had certainly fulfilled at least one of his promises to return the Oathkeeper to its rightful owner. That promise he had guarded like a precious gem, even through the difficult battles against Xemnas and his ilk. Against all odds, including his own latent self doubts, he had found a way to return to Destiny Islands to see Kairi herself.

Only the promise to return her charm didn't cover Sora leaving the world just a few weeks after their miraculous trip home. Alone. Without Riku and Kairi at his side none the less. Kairi was hurt by it.

He wanted to apologize somehow.

Sora took the fork Kairi handed him and stabbed one of the off-colored potatoes slathered in a dark half-yellow and red sludge. It really was his fault for not seeing them before he left. Sora _knew_ she was a real stickler about those things, even if the reason he had to go was a good one. One that Kairi couldn't know.

Sora had known Kairi for a long time, and he learned early on that Kairi could perceive things unspoken. She understood things in her heart that there had no reasonable explanations to the mind. Her heart could accept what her mind couldn't grasp. That included the unwritten ethics of being the Keyblade master.

Being the Keyblade master was more than a passing interest. It was something he was obligated to do for remainder of his life. He wasn't about to throw himself into a depression thinking about it. It was a long road, but it was one he was going to walk it regardless of how hard it was.

It wasn't anything to cry over. It would be like hating the color of his eyes. It was just a part of him so much that he couldn't imagine himself doing or being anything else. It was like the keyblade was literally an oath itself, one written into the very fabric of his life. Every morning he had felt the pull of the keyblade, asking to be held in his capable grip even without heartless nearby to vanquish. Every night he dreamt of the places that were still ridden with dark beings, and the worlds that harbored them. He heard their distant calling, prayers to no one, wondering if help would ever come. Every movement of his fingers, every sweep of his arm, every step, every passing thought, he could feel the magic guiding his every move.

The keyblade wasn't a weapon anymore. The keyblade was _him_.

He was always going to be on the move. Always going to be at the heart of the battle. He was always going to be two steps away from the reaching claws of the heartless, and only one step away from oblivion if the heartless won.

Kairi and Riku had always found a way to follow in all the chaos. But if he had his way, they wouldn't be able to. They'd live long peaceful lives on the island, away from battle, away from monsters that reached for hearts.

Even if Riku was the best brother he could ask for in battle or in blood.

Even if Kairi could sooth his inner wounds like a salve to the soul.

Sora would always be at the front line where the darkness lived, he had to be away from them.

Away from Kairi.

Still, being close to them now stilled fears he didn't even remember having. Even if he knew it wasn't going to last forever, he could still take in the moments and treasure the time while he could.

Kairi was still looking at him with curious eyes, waiting anxiously to see the result of her culinary efforts. He had a silent chuckle at her expense and wished that Kairi could see the look on her face.

"What?" Kairi asked. She probably hadn't the slightest idea what he was so amused by.

He shook his head and waved away her question. Closing his eyes, he moved the fork closer and instinctively wrinkled his nose. Kairi leaned in with a frown and a "You haven't even tasted it yet!" before he bit down and let the morsel hit his tongue.

Kairi had her elbows on the counter, mere inches away from Sora's face, trying to decipher his expression. He was careful to keep his reaction in check and Kairi became more anxious in turn.

"Well?" She wondered. Sora tapped his chin thoughtfully and then stuck the fork into another piece. Just as Kairi opened her mouth to speak again, he stuck it into her mouth and she squeaked in surprise. His face lit up when she slapped his arm. He watched her face go blank, realizing that her dish _didn't_ taste like it had been left in the sun for three months. In fact, even after the morsel was gone, a surprisingly tangy aftertaste remained. It left her wanting more.

"It… It's good this time. Sora, look, it's really good!"

Sora gave a thumbs up before quickly reaching behind him where a stack of clean utensils was sitting in a tray beside the sink to dry. He returned with the second fork, and Kairi took it eagerly. He pointed casually to the red and yellow mess in front of him.

"Mmm?" she swallowed and scratched her check bashfully, "Um… I dunno. I'm not sure whats in it, really."

Sora raised an eyebrow and immediately set down the fork as thought he feared for his life.

"Hey!" she laughed. "I'm serious, though. Riku was the one who called it Jam and Mustard Potatoes. He said that whatever I put in there is all like … yellowish and kinda mustardy lookin'. You know it's hard for me to remember what I put in there, especially when I'm cooking when I'm all distracted. I sure wish I did."

She thoughtfully licked her fork and said more to herself than anyone, "Then maybe I could make it again."

Sora wondered something. He paused, sorting out the gestures in his mind. He couldn't speak, so what was the best way to get his message across?

An idea occurred to him._ Okay, so…_

He turned his palms up questioningly for the first set of movements, one that Kairi watched carefully to make sure that she understood. The next set of movements, he spent leaning forward and lightly tapping her forehead with his finger. He remembered how these kinds of weird concoctions were always a result of something that had her upset. Maybe if he could figure it out, they could work together to solve it. He was good at cheering her up. Kairi told him so.

He paused in mid-motion, realizing too late what the answer was likely to be.

The only set of events that happened recent enough to upset her was his departure from the islands. _Sora_ was the reason why she'd been upset enough to do her crazy-cooking.

Kairi understood his stop and softened her expression. She lifted her elbow onto the table, resting her chin on her palms and looking thoroughly relaxed. She took her time contemplating the thought forming in her mind.

"Do you remember, Sora, when we used to play Knights on the islands?" Nostalgia filled them both. Even in the quiet atmosphere of the kitchen, Sora fell into his memories. He closed his eyes only for a second, but he could instantly feel the summer sun beating down on him from above. The ocean water echoed in his ears like a slow heartbeat and the wind carried the crisp smell of adventure and unknown. And as Kairi turned to him in the here and now with the gentleness and grace that he'd only come to associate with her, he knew he was already caught in the spell of her story.

"What I remember most was always being the princess."

Sora nodded, recalling her smaller form peering over the railing of the treehouse. It was easy to picture her adorned with summer flowers, ones picked on the far side of the island and carefully woven into a makeshift crown.

"You and Riku were always the King or the Knight," she said and the subsequent image of him and Riku armed with wooden swords on a sunset beach followed. And then he remembered: That was how Sora and Kairi met.

It was the night of the meteor shower that she came and changed everything, setting the town ablaze with rumors and hushed whispers of the little redhead that the mayor and his wife had taken in from the cold. The whispers formed a barrier that few even dared to approach, and it was in that unfortunate solitude that Kairi made her daily march down the sandy shores of Destiny Islands, searching for broken sand dollars that no one else wanted. That is, until a little blue-eyed boy came by the sea to ask Kairi to be his princess. Like the timid soul she'd been at the time, she ran the other way until he was just a tiny spot on the mainland beach.

Sora had searched for her every day until he found her sitting on the deck on the other side of the island. If he hadn't found her then and talked her out of her shell, he didn't know where they would be now.

"I'd watched you and Riku on the beach, and wanted a best friend too. And then, when you told me your name, it was like a door opened. That was why I always wanted to play it so much. Every day, you know? It made me happy to remember. Until you and Riku got tired of it anyway. Those days, it was just you, me and Riku and all those pretend monsters."

Kairi's smile softened, like the gradual disappearance of ripples in water. "After a while, I didn't feel like playing it anymore either. Because as much as I liked being protected and rescued at the end, when the sun went down and the wind was gone, I was still alone in the treehouse. And you and Riku were still running around and fighting all the monsters. Without me."

Kairi brushed stray locks of hair behind her ear, "Like you do now."

_Only the monsters now are real and you're not just a ladder away. _

Kairi looked older than she should have, not worn down by time but by life. Her rounded cheeks and soft lips made her seem young, filled with the vigor of youth. Her laughter sounded full of wonder, fascination and love. She still embraced each day like it was her last.

What she had that others her age lacked was a deep well of knowledge hidden behind purple eyes. Everything she knew was etched there by two lifetimes worth of waiting. As Kairi. As Namine.

When Sora looked into her eyes, someone besides Kairi was looking back.

"I don't want to be the princess anymore."

Sora felt the subtle tug of magic between them, like a tiny thread weaving a connection between their heart strings. He jovially wondered to himself whether she wanted to be a Lord or Knight. If she was going to be either, she was going to have to learn how to punch like a guy.

As if to read his mind, she brushed her fingers against his. "Whatever you are, that's what I want to be."

_Let me be with you._

Sora's eyes were bright and hopeful, but Kairi had to look at him a second time. Sora guarded his face then, hoping his touch of distant regret didn't reach her vision or her heart. By the time she looked back, Sora was already digging around in the dish to get at the best bits of food and the glimmer, whatever it was, had faded away like a morning mist.

The birds at the window sang for them for the rest of the afternoon.

---

Riku was hard pressed to admit, but in the heat of the moment, it felt like music. It wasn't the kind of music he heard every day on the radio, or kind that people played on the piano. It wasn't even the music that emanated from the heart of the world. This was the special brand of music that few people would experience as music at all.

It wasn't music that people could hear.

It was music that throbbed in his muscles and beat in his heart. It was the kind of music that happened when the arc of his swing was perfect and it flowed like a river right into his next blow. It was the kind of music that he breathed out one moment, found the rhythm in his step to breathe out the next. It was even in his hands when his keyblade clashed against Sora's.

He wasn't a poet. He wished he could find words for it.

He knew Sora's movements like the back of his hand. He'd fought alongside him against hoards of creeping darkness and lived to tell about it, memorizing his every stance, his every tendency, his every strength and weakness on the field. If they were best friends off the field, they were brothers in battle. They could read each other's minds, finish each other's sentences and move onto the next enemy without a single word exchanged. It always happened in an instant, a split-second decision during a heated battle. Sora moved left, Riku moved right. Sora faltered, Riku was already at his back. Riku miscalculated, Sora instantly covered the distance.

When he was moving that fast, he could hardly think. The hits came so hard they made his bones rattle, and it was the most exciting and terrifying thing in the world. Fighting Sora was like fighting himself.

Sora knew him as well as he knew Sora. The knowledge ran deep.

It was for that very reason that the small group of people gathered at the sides of the arena couldn't predict who would be standing victorious in the end. The spectators could hardly keep up with their battle, let alone determine who was likely to win.

The music was even there when Sora was in the air, pushing off of a pillar. Riku's keyblade was already poised in a defensive position to block as Sora used his momentum to come crashing against Riku with the Kingdom Key. Fighting him was a constant battle between Riku's instinct and mental calculations. While half the time his body did the thinking for him, the other half had to think two steps ahead of what Sora might do next. His body and mind were fighting each other as much as he was fighting Sora.

Sora's style was a storm of blows, wild but controlled. Just when he thought that Sora had gotten careless, his friend was already sweeping around his side and striking at his defenseless back. Riku's weapon was there to block it of course, but his heart skipped a beat anyway.

_Nice try._

The pace was so quick, they were throwing dust everywhere. It was a thick curtain of brown and white into the air of the arena.

He didn't even remember when he started running towards Sora. All he knew was that now he was ducking under a swing he hadn't seen coming. He was trying to get closer, inside Sora's defensive ring. Sora's swings were hardest to dodge at arm's length.

He only registered Sora's excited smile for a moment. It was one that Sora probably didn't even know. He was so into the battle that his eyes were half narrowed in concentration. That's when Riku spotted exactly what Sora was trying to do. He had hooked the Way to Dawn into the crannies of the Kingdom Key and nearly twisted it hard enough to send it out of his hands.

Riku held firmly to his keyblade, even as the Way to Dawn twisted into the flesh of his palm and crushed his fingers together. If he just stepped to the left and slid the keyblade away, he could get in a good hit at this range on Sora. He knew it because the music told him.

A spike of excitement filled him when Sora exhaled sharply at the successful hit, but Riku hardly celebrated because Sora has taken way worse. In an instant, Riku felt a heavy pressure on his shoulders, nearly throwing him off balance. Sora had pushed off of him and he was in the air again.

Riku hated it when Sora was in the air.

When the Keyblade came flying down from the sky, spinning in dangerous arc towards him, Riku was already in a dive to avoid it. He rolled and landed on his feet, instantly ready to block the second throw of Sora's Keyblade. The third in the string of attacks came down hard and Riku braced himself for the final strike, which sent him skidding back several feet.

The whole world was alive with music as Sora landed and charged at Riku with successive slashes and thrusts. He parried a great deal of them and dodged others purely by reflex.

He couldn't even suppress the feeling of being utterly alive even when a sharp pain crashed against his shoulder. Sora was holding back, so was he, but the music was playing and it ran through his like the sound of blood through his ears, the smell of dust and wind, the heavy keyblade in his capable fingers

Lord, if Riku hadn't been the reserved young man he was, he'd be laughing the entire battle until they all thought he was crazy.

Sora matched him blow for blow in battle as much as he did in life. In both cases, Riku felt the burning fire of competition so intense that it fueled his every swing and guided his every movement. It was ever present in his mind like the rhythm of danger was in his body. At the same time he was cool and contained, a blue flame raging in the dark.

He didn't even have time to gloat. He only had time to smirk and half-pose at every chance he got.

He didn't remember when he'd had so much fun, the real kind that wasn't born from just doing things to k ill time. He didn't remember when Sora stumbled back, or when Riku was almost swept off his feet. He didn't remember when more people came straggling to the edge of the area, when a sparrow flew overhead, when the dust cleared, when the Kingdom Key and the Way to Dawn clattered against each other like brothers at war.

He didn't remember much of anything.

In fact, he didn't even remember why Sora was at his knees at the other side of the arena.

He only knew that it had all come to a grinding halt: the music of battle, the music of the world. They had both stopped and something was very, very wrong.

A hush had settled over the formerly excited spectators. As much as they had followed the sparring match, not a single one of them could pinpoint the reason why Sora was suddenly half bent over on his knees and was placing a trembling hand over his face.

At first, Riku thought that he'd seriously injured Sora, unintentionally struck at the most vulnerable part of his features. Battling Heartless had allowed him the luxury of knowing the most effective areas to strike when disabling opponents. He had learned so through trial and error and he carried that knowledge with him throughout his journey.

He even knew when things were too much for Sora to handle if he was hurt.

When it came to fighting Sora, he always took great care in avoiding such vulnerable areas like the eyes. For the most part, Riku's aim was usually dead on. None of his blows had landed in the area of where Sora was clutching (his face, why was he covering his face?) so Riku quickly made his way across the field after recovering from surprise.

The halt in battle was jarring after such an intense series of attacks that he almost disbelieved Sora's distress. He could have just been pretending, employing a much sneakier method of besting Riku in battle. It was a little underhanded for Sora, but they had both learned that sometimes it wasn't so much how the battle was won. It was only how it ended. The real world outside the rules of fairy tales and honor had taught them that hard lesson.

Even if _had_ been just a ploy to lure Riku in close to attack, Riku could feel the cold fear and concern fade the fire in his stomach. He just didn't feel like sparring anymore. The Way to Dawn disappeared from his capable grip with a soft whisper.

"Hey…"

Sora did not stir when Riku approached. He didn't even respond when Riku dropped down beside him. The hairs on the back of Riku's neck had begun to stand up, even in the warmth of the day. Chills rippled up his spine as he recognized in the air a cloying atmosphere of dark creatures he'd fought so many times before. Riku's limbs were heavy with paranoia.

Riku spared alarmed glances behind him and at the different exits. The tiny crowd watching them slowly approached with no concern, but there was no threat among them either. So where was this feeling coming from?

Riku returned his attention to Sora. By the time that Sora regained some cognizance of the situation, Riku was already lifting his friend's chin and brushing aside strands of his bangs to inspect the troubled area. Sora was confused, as if he wasn't sure why he was there.

"Sora," Riku said to him more firmly this time. The sound of his voice broke him out of whatever daze he'd settled into. Sora blinked twice before pushing away Riku's worried gesture in irritation as if he was _fine,_ and Riku was silly for fussing over him. Riku was glad the unusual episode was over.

That had been the second time in two days that he'd sensed the presence of the Heartless, a disturbing development on a world that had been so well-guarded against the darkness by the cornerstone of Light.

"You with me?" Riku asked, making sure that he was coherent. Sora nodded with a smile once he recovered, patting Riku on the shoulder as if _he_ were the one who needed reassurance. Sora was the one who was hurt, not him. Riku pulled Sora to his feet when one of the spectators of their sparring match came within speaking distance. The newcomer seemed caught between awe and wariness as he reached out and tapped Sora's arm with the back of his hand.

"You good?" asked the young man. The backwards baseball cap was a stark contrast against the usual attire of Disney Castle, and Riku couldn't help but stare. This was something he expected to see on Destiny Islands, not Disney castle. He stood at least a head shorter than Riku, and was a bit skinner. His canine face was framed by two small drooping ears on each cheek and Riku did a double take, wondering when Goofy had created a miniature version of himself.

"You're-?" Riku trailed off.

The stranger nodded as if he'd gone through the same situation many times before.

"Yeah. I know. My name's Max… the Captain is my dad." He nodded and held out a hand that Riku shook. A few others had gathered around them now, aware that it was safe to approach the two fighters after the battle. They'd probably never witnessed anything remotely close to the sparring match they'd just had. Mickey had taken great care to shield the people of his Kingdom against the battle of the Heartless, and even now, they regarded the two fighters like forces to behold.

"Thought I was seeing things," Riku remarked. "I thought maybe Goofy shrunk himself."

"Please don't say that," Max placed an embarrassed hand over his eyes. Riku raised an eyebrow and Sora gave him a look that implied that he'd explain somehow later. One of these days, Riku was going to get Sora a notepad. The only reason he'd hesitated doing so right away was because he didn't want to entertain the idea that Sora losing his voice was permanent.

Sora's was definitely coming back back, so getting him a notepad would only be a temporary convenience.

"The name's Riku." He said.

"I know," Max said. "Everybody knows." He lacked any malevolence or ill will in his tone, so Riku just dismissed it as a compliment of sorts. He'd probably have to chase down Ludwig for spilling the beans to the entire the world.

Max shot a discreet glance at Riku (which Riku pretended not to see) and then lowered his hand to whisper to Sora, who was still sitting on the arena floor. Riku just barely heard him ask, "Was it…?"

Sora shook his head discreetly. Max must have understood something in the gesture, because he changed the subject. "Guess this round goes to Riku?"

Sora's face went sour and Riku laughed.

"I didn't even see that one," Max and Riku got Sora to his feet. "How can you guys move like that? I never even saw that hit; It was so fast."

"Yeah," Riku said a little flatter than he intended as the laughter in his voice faded, "I didn't see it either."

Sora dusted himself off when he realized his crimson shirt had been reduced to a muddy red from all the dust that had been thrown into the air during the fight. The black trousers hardly held their former black color. He sighed, probably wishing he hadn't been coaxed into a sparring match with his friend.

"Maybe it's a little too soon for you to be out of bed? You know Dad and Donald'll do that whole motherly thing if you keel over," Max laughed when Sora rolled his eyes and crossed his arms into an X shape to reject the idea completely.

"Seriously though, man. Are you sure you're okay? You… _took a hit_," Max said, and if Riku hadn't been as sharp as he prided himself on being, he wouldn't have caught the underlying tones of secrecy.

Riku had done some things that in hindsight that weren't too beneficial in the long run, but he was still smart enough to piece two and two together. Max had some sort of knowledge about what Sora had gone through, especially in the way he and Sora were interacting. They must have been good friends.

If he was likely to get any explanation out of the situation, it was going to be from someone who could actually speak. He briefly wondered if it would be like talking to his father (prying secrets from Goofy was easy as cake) or if it would be like pulling teeth trying to get any information from the smaller version.

He took mental note later to catch Max when Sora wasn't around.

"Sora's made of tough stuff," Riku replied. "He'll live."

Another spectator moved forward, hooves resting on his hips disapprovingly. "Don't let Clarabelle catch you looking like a mess. She'll hose you down on the spot," said an animal that Riku later learned was Horace Horsecollar. Riku gave him the once over, thought it wasn't so much to be judgemental as it was to memorize his appearance. The skill had been developed in his travels with Mickey, especially when they didn't know who to trust.

Horace was a taller animal clad in blue overalls and a red bowler hat. Riku could easily distinguish his role in the castle from the carpenter's belt strapped around his waist.

Horace made a subtle noise that sounded like a cross between a neigh and a sigh. "If I were you I'd get myself cleaned up as soon as possible."

"Don't get all the dust all over the furniture either. She _hates_ that," Max added.

Sora nodded and gave himself one last pat, sending a small puff of leftover dust in the air that caused the whole lot of them to cough or sneeze.

"Graceful," Max remarked.

"Come, Sora. Debbie'll be glad to draw you a bath and wash up your uniform," Horace said and drew an arm around Sora's shoulder, ushering him towards the exit of the practice arena. Max's cousin Debbie was always happy to have someone to take care of. After all, she'd been used to babysitting Max when he was younger. Horace tapped Sora's shoulder. "I know you get carried away, but you'd best take care of that."

Horace noticed Riku's curiosity. Sora tugged at his shirt proudly as Horace pointed at it, "It's a special gift from the King."

As far as he saw, it was just the average soldier's uniform. It was a sleeveless shirt brandishing the Emblem of Disney Kingdom, a vague representation of the King's visage: three circles positioned to look like the King and his ears. He wore black trousers the same tint as his black scarf, tied around his neck for a special accent that completed the entire ensemble. Despite the fact that he was a human, he almost looked like he belonged in the world. Just looking at how well Sora was able to adapt even in appearance to any world made Riku feel a little out of place, himself.

"Next time I give you a birthday present, are you going to roll it around in the dirt?" Riku asked. Sora punched him in the arm.

---

Most of the time when Kairi dreamt, she was completely aware of it. She was fearless because whatever might happen, however outrageous the series of events, she could handle it. When she felt her heart flutter or that touch of fear start to swell inside of her chest, she could wake up and none of it would be real.

Even on nights when the dream began to shift into a nightmare, the ghostly white form of her other self was there to remind her where she was. Namine was always separate from her in dreams. In waking, they could hardly feel the difference between one and the other. They were seamless and perfect. In dreams, she was always a separate ghost of white. Namine was always a bystander rather than a participator, content to sit and witness all the dream's events from afar. She bided her time scribbling various drawings in her sketchbook.

Kairi was the main actor in the play of her dreams, and while the world morphed into new environments and new stories unfolded page by page around her, she was always the center of the universe.

That's why it was such a shock when Kairi found herself completely alone in this dream. Only the darkness kept her company. She shifted her feet in make-believe snow. The sound of ice crunching beneath her feet was unbearably loud.

Her dream-partner was nowhere in sight and Kairi shifted with discomfort. She had come to see Namine as a guardian angel of sorts. Despite having absolutely no bearings on her surroundings, Namine had been a pillar of support to bolster her courage in the face of any dark entities that dared to tread within her world. With Namine gone, she felt lost and hesitant, especially with no one to chase away her bad dreams.

A soft glow emanated from some faraway location and Kairi knew that something was waiting for her at the end of the snowy trail. She recognized the white path instantly as the one that lead her to Kingdom Hearts.

She narrowed her eyes, trying to focus on a white-clad figure that stood in front of Kingdom Hearts, dwarfed by the doorway's massive size. Judging from the golden hair, she assumed it was either Roxas or Namine.

Arrival at the said destination revealed it to be the first.

Roxas sat solemnly in front of the towering entryway, and one glance at the young man revealed how tired he looked in the dim lighting. Roxas hardly raised his eyes when Kairi approached. She stood there waiting for some sort of reaction.

Roxas only raised his head enough for her to see his shadowed blue eyes through golden locks of hair. When their eyes connected, Kairi felt her heart drop, sharing whatever worry or concern plagued Roxas. It was at the tip of her tongue, at the edge of her mind, but she just couldn't pinpoint what they were both so sad about. There was something that they lost, something that they'd realized too late and then let slip through their fingers.

"Why did it have to be like this?" Kairi heard herself say. Her words puzzled her, but Roxas only hardened his face into a solemn shell, shielding her from whatever emotions he'd been feeling before. With the sadness hidden behind his mask, only a resigned stare remained at the surface. She wished that Sora was there to tell her what it meant.

"We didn't have a choice."

The darkness around her flickered like static, a hiccup in the continuum of her dream, and she looked around herself fearfully. Her dream world had never done that before. It had halted, and then she realized that her dream had rewound itself, taking a step backwards and played, because Roxas hardened his features again and said,

"We didn't have a choice."

Then, just when Kairi opened her mouth to ask Roxas something, her dream shuddered.

It flickered.

And then a solid black curtain fell over her eyes so quickly that she was startled.

There was nothing. Sight, sound, substance ceased to be and it made her sweat.

There was only black. She couldn't even see her body anymore, it was so thoroughly enclosed in the thick, suffocating void. She'd heard that the average human being could only stand five minutes of true pitch black before they lost their mind, and just the thought made her pray, pray, pray that her dream would end before it happened.

She could feel the soundless clock inside her ticking down as if her mind were just waiting for the five minute mark, so it could crack and shatter.

Barely, she registered that she shouldn't be feeling the cold sweat, not in dreams.

The clock inside her steadily approached the end of the time limit, and it became a ticking in her heart. It gradually became louder and louder, a deafening pounding in her chest until she could no longer ignore or convince herself that it would go away.

Panic. Fear.

She was terrified.

Just when she thought she had reached the end, her candle flickered. Then died. The nothing stretched on forever...

She sat up in bed.

It took her a moment to realize that she hadn't been consumed with madness, and that the pounding had faded away to the very ordinary silence of her bedroom.

She wasn't in her dreams anymore. She was in the real. Her eyes had opened on their own, and she was back in the castle. She breathed in and out slowly, allowing the panic to subside. Her heart was pounding so hard.

After a few minutes of staring at the flat white walls of her room, Kairo moved in the moonlight and removed the tussled hair from her face. She definitely wouldn't be going back to sleep after that. She'd been in a state like this before and last time she hadn't been able to sleep a wink the entire night. That last time, she'd spent the great majority of it trying to keep her eyes shut, caught in perpetual wakefulness as she battled with the sheets for comfort.

Kairi knew better than to lay there even pretending she could sleep. Instead, she slipped out of bed and wiggled her toes against the floor. One quick hop and she was walking towards the door of her room, navigating around the vanity careful not to wake up the sleeping lamp.

The lamp inhaled quickly, snorting ever so softly before its regular breathing resumed. It never really liked to be awake when its bulb was off.

The way wasn't too difficult to navigate. The moonlight was her ally, streaming in between the curtains and spilling a stream of moonlight directly onto her path.

She spared one last glance at Sora's sleeping form, perfectly angelic in the moonlight. The space beside him where Riku should have been was empty.

She placed her hand on the door and was surprised to find that it had already been opened. She had closed it earlier that night, so she assumed Riku had probably woken up earlier in the evening for one of his nightly strolls. Not that Kairi could blame him. After all, she was about to do the exact same thing to sooth her nerves.

The best part of Disney Castle was that it was near-impossible for her to be afraid of the dark. The Cornerstone kept any last of the remaining Heartless away from the Kingdom, and even her imagination had a hard time conjuring any creatures when the world was so friendly and welcoming. It was surreal in the most comforting way, like a children's book come to life.

Kairi stepped out into the corridor, which was easily one of the most impressive stretches of hallway in the castle. Towering windows to her right spilled light onto the hallway floor and checkered her path with shadows from its window frames. Elaborate mirrors and picture frames of various landscapes hung on the walls to her left. Banners hung overhead, bearing the emblem of the Disney Kingdom. She definitely felt at home, even in the dark. Kairi was silent as she moved through the beams of light and shadow, blanket wrapped around her shoulders, with no particular destination in mind.

She wandered until she came across the warm glow of orange light emanating from Mickey's study. Glad that the King was awake, she made her way towards the room and slipped inside. Her eyes adjusted to a pile of books half-spilling off of the King's desk. Someone was half bent over, asleep in the King's chair. The only light source, a small lamp atop the desk, illuminated the features of the person. It wasn't the King after all. Silver hair and strong, youthful features stirred.

Definitely Riku.

Kairi trailed up to the desk, tugging the blanket more tightly around her. She stared at him a moment, peaceful and unbothered by the problems of the waking.

Sometimes Riku's dreams would be plagued by terrible nightmares so severe that Kairi would find him shuddering in his sleep, grimacing as if he were reliving awful memories. This time, he was quiet and still, probably dreaming of home or other pleasantries. Kairi was glad.

She reached forward and placed a gentle hand on Riku's shoulder, pressing lightly to ease him into waking. Riku's eyes fluttered open and he pushed himself up off the desk. He rubbed half-lidded eyes with the back of his hand.

How cute. He was like a kid again, free from the burdens of the real world.

Kairi giggled once and Riku focused on her, squinting as his eyes adjusted. He made an unintelligible mumble and then coughed, his voice a lower octave than its usual tenor.

"Morning, sleeping beauty." She said, and then tapped his cheek. "You have page imprints on your face."

"Mm," he muttered, rubbing his face until he couldn't feel the marks anymore.

Meanwhile, Kairi picked up one of the books by his elbow. She scanned the words thoughtfully, and then set it down in front of Riku.

"What's all this?" she wondered and plucked yet another book hiding underneath several others. Riku was still a little groggy, so he just blinked at her for a moment.

"You were with Sora…" Riku leaned back in the chair and dug his palms into his eyes to wipe away the sleepiness.

"I was," she said.

He looked up again, "Didn't sleep?"

She shook her head, "Sort of. I wanted to walk around and think for a little bit. This place is different at night. It's kind of pretty in the moonlight." She came around the table where Riku sat. He scooted over on the seat so that she could sit down beside him. They both took up half the seat and sat shoulder to shoulder, trying and half-failing to fit there at once. Riku didn't seem to mind the closeness.

"I guess it's the dreams again," Kairi admitted.

"Same one?" he wondered, looking surprised. He knew better than to ignore dreams. For most people, dreams were just a mixing pot of their daily worries and a wandering of their minds in sleep. For people like Kairi, Riku, and Sora, who had tasted the magic of other worlds, dreams took on a different meaning. They could be anything from a glimpse of what was to come to a piercing insight to their darkest secrets.

"No," she replied. "This one was new. Roxas was there."

This peaked his interest, "That so?"

She let the rippling images of her dream resurface. Dreams faded the longer she was awake, but the sight of Roxas looking so defeated came back to her with haunting clarity. "Yeah. Namine wasn't there at all. Only Roxas was there and we both ended up talking. About choices, or something or other."

"Choices." He repeated.

"Yeah," she said as Riku placed an arm behind her to support her where she sat. "He looked so… sad."

"Roxas didn't exactly have much to be happy about in his life."

Most of Roxas's life he'd been burdened by the will of others, whether it had been to appease Kingdom hearts in organization xiii, or to repair the damage of Riku's mistake (more specifically to fix Sora). He'd never had much of a say in what happened to him.

Briefly, Riku could feel the tingle of memory on his skin of the desperate aura radiating off Roxas in the heat of battle. It was like Roxas had known that if he lost to Riku, everything would be over. He'd been right.

Kairi was quiet for a moment. "I don't know if he's still angry, but I think he's happier being with Sora now."

"You think so?" he asked, though Kairi detected some skepticism in his voice.

"Namine talks to me in my dreams whenever she knows something is bothering me. One time, I asked her if she was lonely by herself inside my head. And you know what she told me?"

Riku turned and waited. Kairi moved closer to Riku, as if to offer physical contact for comfort.

"Namine tells me that she's not sorry," she reached forward and idly ran her fingers over the pages of the book Riku was reading earlier. "She said it was like coming home."

Riku absorbed what she was saying and let his eyes wander. Kairi was an amazing individual, and she was one of the rare ones that always knew what to say regardless of the situation. She didn't even have to speak much. She just had to say one or two phrases and it would change Riku's whole perspective. She challenged the way he thought and then soothed whatever ghosts still haunted him.

Dispelling these ghosts entirely was another story. That was something that he needed to do himself. But when he was with her, his inner demons disappeared long enough for him to pick himself up.

"And if Sora is Roxas's home, then you must be the mom who drags Roxas home at curfew," she said suddenly, and Riku just laughed. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"A mom?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

"You've got the long hair," she said. Then she tilted her head, "And it's white like an old lady."

"If I'm his mother, and Roxas is my kid, then so is Sora," he looked disgusted. "Ugly kids."

"Well where do you think they get their looks from, _mom_?" she stared at him.

"Hey, I'm ruggedly handsome. They get the ugly from their father. Whoever that is." He looked pointedly at her, and Kairi didn't have to be a genius to know who he was trying to imply her.

Kairi rubbed Riku's cheek with her fingers, unfazed and amused, "You can't call yourself ruggedly handsome when you don't have facial hair, it's like a rule. You don't even have peach fuzz, yet."

"I'm either too young, or too old. Pick one."

"And a mid-life crisis?" She said. He laughed and pushed her hands away when she started pulling at the smaller bangs, "Old fogey."

He shoved her shoulder lightly. She shoved back.

A tentative silence…

The sound of hushed giggling filled the study and the two struggled playfully in the lamplight to get the advantage over the other: Riku with his skillfull fingers searching for Kairi's most ticklish spot, and Kairi trying her best to obscure his view by flipping all of his hair over his eyes. They almost tipped over the chair they sat on twice, and knocked several of the books teetering over the edge of the table to the floor. Both times, Kairi had shushed Riku about the racket like it was his fault, and then Riku would resume the battle and Kairi's half-hushed laughter ended up being louder than the books falling.

Once their playfulness had settled down and Riku had given her the victory (he didn't fight back very hard), he moved to pluck the fallen books from the floor. Kairi was on her feet, picking up her blanket from its spot by her foot and returning it to its rightful place around her shoulders.

She moved at his side to pick up more books. She picked up one with a red spine and a black cover, inspecting the title and reading it aloud, "Mass Hysteria, Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds."

She looked up from the book, face indifferent, "You're not telling me something."

He smirked at her subtle humor, "I'm not losing my head. I lost my body once, but my mind's pretty hard to scramble. That one I'm reading because it helps me." He stood, small stack of books in his arm.

"Helps you make people crazy?"

"No, with the darkness," he said like it would answer all her questions.

Kairi curled her small fingers into a fist and slapped it onto her open palm as if to make a profound discovery, "A mob of angry housewives will banish the dark. It's brilliant. When do we start?"

"Angry middle aged women are scary, but no." He shook his head. "There's a lot that we don't know about the darkness. There's darkness in every heart. Every single person has it, and sometimes when it's too much to take, it takes the form of madness."

Kairi felt a chill ripple through her spine, like someone had mentioned the madness before. Or maybe she had experienced it once…

She flipped through the pages of the book, scanning the tiny print and squinting. When she couldn't figure out one the words she was focusing on, "So … what does that mean? That reading about crazy people's gonna help you fight the dark?"

"Maybe," Riku replied. "Anything at this point is worth looking into."

Kairi took a seat, crossing her legs and opening another. "Mmm. So that's why I woke up and you were gone. You went to go read all Mickey's books." She said and closed it shut. Mickey was smarter than his appearance first implied. At a glance, the mouse was friendly, without a care in the world. In reality, he was the protector of an entire Kingdom and the extensive collection of scientific, mathematical, and other worldly books ensured that he was well educated enough to continue to keep it safe. Which was why Kairi said, "You know, Mickey's probably thought that up and read all these books. It's his library after all."

"I suppose. But there's gotta be something he missed. Something we _all_ missed, otherwise the Heartless would be nothing but a memory and we'd be back at the island like we're supposed to be," Riku said slowly. He ran his thumb over the title of the cover to clear the dust from its surface. "Sora's good at fighting off the dark. He's really good at it. But the dark learns as fast as he does and eventually he's going to get tired. One day a long time from now, he's gonna slip and we're not gonna be there to make sure he doesn't get picked off. No one can fight it off forever. I spent barely spent two years in it and I'm already worn out and ready to call it quits. If there's a way for us to make it so he never has to call up the Keyblade again, I want to do it."

Kairi brought the blanket back up around her shoulders from where it had slipped to her elbows. "You have your work cut out for you. It'd be a long, long time," She strolled casually over to the shelf closest to the King's chair. Her eyes trailed along the long line of books and she ran her fingers along the uniform spines until it came upon one that seemed out of place. It stuck out from the rest.

She slid her fingers around it and idly pulled it from the shelf, opening it. "… if you were looking by yourself."

Riku was unreadable for a moment, standing on the other side of the desk with the lamplight failing to reach most of his features. His eyes fell to the floor. To Kairi's confusion, Riku had strolled to her side and knelt down.

When Riku rose again with a hastily folded piece of paper, she realized he had picking it up from the floor where she stood and she was instantly curious. "Hm?"

"Fell out. It was in that book you pulled out, I guess," he said, and a familiar scrawl caught her eye. She came forward and frowned at the piece of paper as Riku finally unfolded it completely.

There was a long silence.

When Riku finally looked up at her with the same concerned expression, she knew that the writing had definitely belonged to the person sleeping in the other room. It was just an innocent piece of paper hidden within the folds of Mickey's extensive library, but the implications of what was written gave them a strange chill.

Riku read it several times over, but neither he nor Kairi could decipher the hidden meaning, let alone ease their own fears of what it could mean.

_Don't tell Riku and Kairi. It'll end everything._


	4. Ch 3 Secrets by Sunset

Whispers in the Dark  
Chapter 03: Secrets by Sunset

Author's Notes: Apologies. This chapter is not proofread by anyone but me because my beta's kinda busy at the moment, I think. Be prepared for TERRIBLE grammar.

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The real secrets are not the ones I tell.  
- Mason Cooley

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Riku could never refuse a challenge, particularly if said challenge involved going toe to toe with Sora.

He was a winner by nature, driven both by the heat of competition and the sweet, addictive high of victory that followed every time. Even if he didn't cross the finish line a winner, he made sure that everyone who faced him remembered how hard they had to grind, how desperate they had to sprint, how fiercely they had to fight to get ahead.

Sora knew this best, competing in everything from wolfing down a meal first to catching butterflies in hand without crushing them. Competing had become such an integral and regular part of their daily interaction that they'd developed a reputation for it.

It wasn't that Riku didn't compete with other people, of course. He welcomed the sight of any misguided person thinking they could run in his league as much as he welcomed the sight of their retreat afterwards. It was just that Sora was the only one who kept coming back. Every time Sora would come around the corner with a new challenge to throw down, it would rekindle the fire inside, burning as fiercely as the first time.

Sora was the only one who changed, who evolved, who returned with an edge just a little sharper, his reaction a bit quicker. Sora was the only one who could almost predict the direction of his swings as they sparred instead of fighting on raw instinct. Sora was the only one who'd raced him enough times to figure out Riku's likely route on the island course.

Sora was the only one who got better. He _learned._

For Riku it was all about knowing that he had come out on top in the end. It was knowing, without a shadow of a doubt, that he was the best, if not better than most. It was about being satisfied when someone else had come up short though a small part of him knew that the feeling also shrank his shortcomings and erased creeping doubts, even just for a little while.

Over time, it became an all encompassing, ever pressing need. It was an insatiable frame of mind, a state of being encapsulating everything that he did. It drove him to excel in schoolwork and projects, it drove him to spar with the kids on the island, it even drove him to fight Sora for the affections of the redheaded daughter of the mayor.

Those things never motivated Sora as far as Riku knew. He wasn't that type of person with a different type of motivation. He had a fire all right, but it burned a different color, a different intensity that strengthened rather than repelled his own. Riku couldn't describe it.

It wasn't until now, waiting outside the Science Department's door and debating whether or not to go into the lab that Riku wondered if maybe all this time, it hadn't been about winning for Sora.

Maybe for Sora, it was't that he wanted to win.

Maybe for Riku's other half, it was that he had nothing to lose, and all the friendship to gain.

Every time a competition ended, there was another common story, another inside joke, another shared experience, another strand of memory reinforcing their bonds of friendship. Sora would be discouraged for a time, skulking off by himself to ruminate on defeat, but he would return in no time like, as if nothing had transpired.

That fire he felt when racing against Sora… that same fire must have been the same reason why he was now back in a place he swore never to come back to on sheer principle: Ludwig's lab.

Maybe he was a glutton for punishment? After all, the longer he was around Ludwig, the more he risked coming down with a bad case of stupid.

Still, he just couldn't leave it alone, especially with the way things had ended on such an unsatisfying note before. While the conversation with Ludwig had been unnerving enough on its own, he'd still left the lab believing that he'd come up as the victor in that bout of verbal jujitsu, cold defiance trailing after him like a smoky shadow. When enough time had passed an he had enough time to reflect on the true nature of their encounter and the subjects juggled between them, it had dawned on him with growing irritation that if someone else had been listening in, they wouldn't have known Riku was trying to win at all.

It felt like he and the scientist had gone head to head, challenging each other to a meeting of the minds. It felt like he'd lost.

He was inside the door before he had a real plan, a victim of his own impetuous nature.

Riku hadn't even bothered to utter a hello. There were no formalities, just that insatiable need to find a loophole in his arguments. To find a fault in his logic. Only that would constitute as a win.

"Okay, fine. So let's say we weaken the dark," Riku started. First weapon in the arsenal. First point of interest. He tried to ignore a brief image of Kairi and Sora cheering him on in his mind. "That's all well and good, but that sort of thing is only a temporary solution, isn't it?"

Ludwig, unaffected, waddled over to a table on the other side of the room where piles of papers and notebooks threatened to spill over onto the floor. Riku briefly wondered if Ludwig just wasn't aware of how messy his lab was or if he just didn't care.

As if in response to his thoughts, Ludwig set out the beakers on a counter, spending quite some time clearing the clutter.

"Ze point, my boy, of only reducing the darkness may seem trivial, but to lessen ze darkness means more lives saved does it not? Surely someone of your alignment vould understand such a notion."

"…It's just what you said before," Riku said slowly, "that where there's light, there will always be darkness."

"Vhy yes, I believe I did," Ludwig said, blinking so obliviously that it made Riku shuffle as his irritation, barely detectable, grew a bit in size.

"If that's true, then just because there are good people in the multiverse, there will always be Heartless _and_ Nobodies. It means everything we've been doing is useless. We'll never win."

"Vell, it vould not constitute a vin in ze vay zat you are thinking," he replied, sweeping several rolled up papers and maps under his arm. His vague response left Riku at a loss.

"Let's explain ze way zat ze universe words, shall we?"

Riku shrugged, "Fire away."

Ludwig beamed, glad to have someone to reveal his findings to, "Consider zis… Ze universe is again, a great balance of ze light and ze darkness. Presumably, zat vas how everything vas in ze beginning. Equal parts of chaos and order. Zat is a true state of harmony."

Riku nodded, thankfully finding the explanation a little less winded than his other spiels.

Ludwig moved to another desk, cleared more clutter, and set the papers down. Riku watched as the duck unrolled the documents carefully and spread them flat on the surface of the table. Starmaps similar to the ones that he had been looking over in the gummi ship were revealed before him.

"Ze universe existed in complete balance until some new element, some catalyst, created an imbalance, making light and dark uneven. Vhen ze difference became too large, ze darkness was able to create physical manifestations of itself. And that spells catastrophe for worlds like yours and mine."

Riku nodded again, wondering where he was going with it.

The universe had been at its most peaceful state when everything was even. He could understand the notion, idly drawing parallels with the scientist's words and what had happened to Destiny Islands. Riku's state of harmony was to be with Sora and Kairi. Those days, though filled with restlessness, were also filled with the warmth and hope strong enough to settle in his heart. Back then it had been enough.

Riku nodded, "Catastrophic events… you're talking about the heartless. Something tipped the scale in the beginning. That's why the darkness is outweighing the light. The heartless are here because something happened a long time ago that made the dark a little stronger than the light."

Riku's words slowed near the end, more chilling realization creeping up behind him like familiar phantoms.

Sort of like how _Riku_ had been the catalyst for Destiny Islands. _He_ had tipped the scales himself?

He tried to put his insecurities aside in favor of at least figuring out some questions he still had.

"The catalyst is to blame," Riku encouraged him.

"Correct," Ludwig replied.

"And knowing this harmony stuff is going to help us _reduce_ the heartless how?"

"Every scientific theory, including reducing ze heartless, must come from years of research. So ze more you know about something, ze easier it is for you to find a way to be rid of it."

Riku watched as he opened up another starmap beside the cheery starscape of Destiny Islands. This time it was the dark and barren World that Never Was. It was a stark contrast between the worlds, laid out side by side as if to illustrate the scientists' point. Sunlight. Moonlight. Light. Dark. Where Riku's life began, and where it almost ended.

"And you found it's impossible to get rid of the darkness altogether," Riku concluded. Here they were again. Same argument. Same projected end.

Only this time, Ludwig surprised him by shaking his head, "Oh no, zat's not ze case. Ve certainly discovered a vay. Our methods were effective, only sometimes ze result is… unsatisfactory. But that's a topic for another day."

_Woa, wait a minute there, _Riku thought. _What are you hiding? _

He frowned and slowly made his way to the table to stand at Ludwig's side, eyes scanning the maps. He decided to dig deeper, if not just for the fact that he felt the scientist was trying to downplay the importance of his statements.

"Unsatisfactory? I mean if you found a way to get rid of the darkness, why not just use it already?"

"It is quite complicated," Ludwig said.

"I'm a smart kid. Try me."

Riku was surprised when Ludwig hesitated. Before, he'd been practically oblivious to any and all tact. So NOW he was exercising hesitation? This had to be good, Riku thought to himself and crossed his arms again. But even skepticism could not mask his worry or his suspicion.

Ludwig took a deep breath and let loose a rapid fire explanation that went over his head, "Vell, to be rid of ze darkness completely, you must think of ze darkness and light as a spectrum. When one side is eliminated, zen so must the other extreme. One for one. Only zen will ze necessary balance for peace will result."

"Okay. I was just kidding earlier. I don't follow," Riku said flatly. "Try again in slower English."

Hesitation forgotten, Ludwig looked almost too happy to slow down and explain on a simpler level. Riku felt like he was in school again.

"Vell, let's look at the dark and light as shades of grey, shall ve?" Ludwig took several pens from an open drawer and set them down next to each other on the table, ordering from lightest to dark. "Most see ze darkness and light as two opposing sides. But zat isn't true. Ze truth is zat zey are like steps in a black and vhite ladder zat goes from lightest to dark. In a spectrum, if you will. It begins with vhite…"

Ludwig placed his finger at the beginning of the line of pens, at the whitest, "…and ze colors gradually become grey the closer they get to ze black. Zat is the nature of a world. Zat is the nature of everything." His finger trailed all the way to the other end where a black marker ended the line of pens.

" At one end you have pure vhite and at ze other end zere is only pure black. Again, Ze universe is like zis! Vhen you vant to get rid of either ze right or ze left extremes, you have to take off zem both."

Ludwig snatched the farthest pens on both ends, black on the right and white on the left, representing the removal of light and dark.

"Even when you take away these two, ze greys would remain untouched. Hence, there is perfect balance."

"So, in a world with blacks, greys and whites… if I want peace, I have to get rid of pure white _and_ black. You can't just take away one or the other, it has to be both." Riku nodded. He was calling pure light and pure dark extremes. It made sense.

"Ze universe finds harmony in moderation. An extreme vhite or black in any form causes conflict by its very nature. Alone, extremes are unpredictable, zey cause imbalance. Fighting against each other, it is even vorse. Zey cause var and strife of all kinds. Catastrophic in some cases," Ludwig's eyes shined, explaining almost as if this was good news to be had.

Riku wasincredulous. _Why do you sound proud of that!?_

Still, he let the information sink in. The suspicion burrowing its way into his chest was still there.

Pure light and pure darkness was the problem with the universe? That was a first. It was a done deal that the heartless had to go, but he was saying that pure light was a problem too. How could an extreme of _light, _what he perceived as goodness, hope and purity, really be a detriment to the multiverse?

He scratched his head, agitated. Once he was done looking at Ludwig like he was a few cards short of a deck, he placed one hand on the map of Destiny Islands and the other on the map of The World That Never Was, fingers brushing the crisp, yellowed paper, "And these?"

"Examples of extremes of course. Ze black and ze vhite. The two pens at each end."

Riku nodded, quiet again for a moment, "These maps are examples of worlds of light… and worlds of darkness?"

When Ludwig nodded, Riku looked alarmed. It struck him suddenly, "But if you use this method, if you take the black and white pens, these worlds disappear? When the dark's gone, my world is too? What happens to people on it?"

Ludwig was about to reply, but Riku beat him to the punch, voicing his suspicions. Riku was surprised with how well he controlled the tone of his voice. At worst, he sounded unimpressed, but his thoughts were far from friendly,

"What about Sora and Kairi, do they disappear too? Destiny Islands is just one of a hundred worlds of light. You've been shoving your nose into my life, and you're saying the only way you've found so far save people is to wipe me and my friends out?"

If it was just Riku alone being sacrificed for peace of the universe, Riku wouldn't have even blinked. He would have just bowed his head and marched death row like a dead man. But Kairi and Sora were at stake too, and that was unacceptable.

"Vell, it vas only for visual purposes. Destiny Islands, by all means is not pure light." He admitted.

Riku's confusion overshadowed his relief. Worlds didn't get any lighter than Destiny Islands. Most others in retrospect were pretty bleak.

"Let me correct myself. Destiny Islands is light, but not _only _light. Ze vorld of Destiny Islands is filled vith a large cast of characters ranging of both lights and lesser dark. It is varied. Destiny Islands has some greys here and zere." Ludwig explained, "You and ze princess for example. You two haff nothing to vorry about. You two are not part of ze extremes due to your travels and origins. You have pieces of both light and dark, hence you have become a greys in a wide range of many other greys. Everything from your personality to your intentions place you more towards ze middle of the spectrum. Both of you are safe."

"Me and Kairi are greys," said Riku, sensing a second part to his explanation. "Um… you _do_ know that Kairi's a Princess of Heart? As in pure of heart, filled with light, honest to goodness _not-_grey Princess of Heart? She's like one of the purest people I know. How can she be anything but light?"

"All vill be explained in due time," Ludwig assured him. "Let us just assume due to certain circumstances, she is considered a grey."

Riku had his hands on his hips, visibly irritated. Following this line of argumentation would veer them off the main track, "Whatever, whatever. Fine. So me and Kairi are in the middle. Fantastic. What is all that stuff supposed to mean?"

"It means vhat vould end up disappearing vould only be one element composed of one or more extremes. Zere is only one thing that would classify as an extreme of ze light."

"Just one?" Riku raised an eyebrow and narrowly resisted shaking his head at the doctor. He instead turned to the starmaps, placing light fingers on the surface of the paper. A tiny voice wished that he, Sora and Kairi were home.

"Just one pure element of light."

"What exactly could…" Riku's words died on his lips. A chill rose up from his spine as he unconsciously pressed down with his palms on the starmap of Destiny Islands, slightly wrinkling the fragile paper under panicked fingers.

Not _what_. _Who._

Riku turned, eyes narrowing as he turned back towards Ludwig. His fingers carelessly brushed the maps and the image of Destiny Island came fluttering gently to the ground at their feet, "No."

Ludwig only responded with a look of sympathy.

Riku shook his head again and pointed, "Not happening."

Ludwig nodded. "Luckily zere is still time. Ve can still find alternate vays."

Riku was hardly appeased. In fact, he was clearly disturbed by the idea. It was hard not to be mad at Ludwig, but Riku had more common sense than people gave him credit for. He knew his anger was directed at someone trying to solve the problem, not make it worse. To release the tension, he raised his fingers to massage his temple. He felt a headache coming on.

Riku exhaled, "First of all, you need to get your facts straight. He _isn't_ all light. He's like me. We have parts of… of everything. He's got parts of the organization and Roxas and we've been through everything in the dark. We're the same. If I'm somewhere in the middle grey, then he's the grey at the dead center. He isn't an extreme light. That's the most ridiculous… it's stupid."

Ludwig gathered the fallen starmap in his hands, setting it back on the table, "You are right, your friend isn't only light. But like any other scientific problem, you must learn everything you can of ze subject. Otherwise, only parts of your theory vill be correct."

_Research the subject? Um, hello, I'm his best friend?_

"I _know_ Sora," Riku insisted.

When Ludwig surveyed the spark of defiance and blind faith in his friend, Ludwig only shook his head and conceded the argument. Riku could read his thoughts, 'There would be no convincing this one.' The duck patted his arm again and smiled, "Ve vill find another vay."

Riku wasn't sure how long he spent thinking to himself. It was a lot to absorb at once. He wanted to believe so badly that there was a way to be rid of the darkness for good.

But from what he was saying, there _was _no way. The only way to win in the sense that he'd fought so long for, would be for Riku to say good-bye to a dear friend. If he wanted to destroy the darkness, he'd have to let the very hope of the universe disappear with it. Which was _wrong_ because the theory incorrectly classified Sora as an extreme.

Besides, what proof was there that this theory had any validity? Where was the concrete evidence that any of this was true and not just the speculations of a madman with an inclination to blow up obscure parts of the castle? If there was, he had yet to show it. It was all just assumptions and half-truths that didn't mean much in the long run.

It was a good thing that he was seeking other methods. Otherwise, Riku was likely to say some things he knew for sure would start a world war if this duck was royalty.

That was the last thing he needed right now.

A slight movement caught his eye.

At the other end of the room, sat a beaker filled with a murky green substance. While the beaker itself wasn't suspect, its position dangerously close to the edge was. By the time that he turned his full attention to it, it was already teetering off the edge and sliding off.

Ludwig followed his eyes and just barely let out a, "Oh dear me." before a loud poof erupted. It hit the floor and suddenly there was smoke and wood chips everywhere. The room trembled from the pseudo-explosion. For something that packed less punch than the previous blast, it sure did made his ears ring from the noise.

Riku scrambled out of the room with Ludwig, black smoke billowing from the doorway they escaped out of. Riku came out of the room unhindered, but Ludwig had the misfortune of running into someone only a few steps out of his lab. When Riku turned back, he saw Ludwig being stared down by a furious looking chicken. Riku was just far enough so he wasn't breathing in the giant cloud of black, but still wisely situated out of reach of this new, angry looking character.

"Ludwig Von Drake!!" the chicken squawked, looking into the charred doorway and then into the messy hall where pieces of furniture, floor and ceiling had been scattered in both explosions. She had her hands on her hips, feathers puffed and ruffled in agitation. Just behind her, several equally livid musicians held broken violins.

"Clara Cluck!" He chuckled and pulled at his black necktie nervously. "Vhat a pleasure it iz to see you!... Vhat brings you here?"

By now the chicken, whose eyes were dangerous slits, was already advancing on the duck, "You've disrupted our sessions for the last time."

"It is all for a good cause you know," Ludwig said, hands up in defense. Even as he spoke, he was inching backwards, anticipating a quick escape. Clara Cluck and her entourage of musicians were wise to his tactics and circled around him.

"I'll show you good cause!" Clara squawked and they all took off running at the same time into a nearby room. Riku blinked when he thought he felt a change in the rhythm of the world around him. The air seemed to beat quicker as crashing was heard inside the chambers where they'd run off to.

Riku only shook his head. This must have been why Disney Castle was one of Sora's favorite worlds. Only people like Sora and Kairi could love a place like this.

He straightened his jacket and moved further down the hall with a light cough, deciding to leave the crazy cast of characters to their own devices. Besides, he had more important things to think about. Struck with the inexplicable need to be around the people he cared about, he shadowed away into the winding halls of the castle in search of his friend.

---

The great thing about Sora was that even if things got a little chaotic, he could quickly remedy the situation in his own unique way. Never mind the fact that half the time, things were chaotic_ because of_ him. His presence was a force of change in itself. Wherever he went, things were irreversibly changed for better or for worse. Things never went according to plan and it was purely by talent, sheer stubbornness and (when the occasion called for it) the flinging of sharp objects that generally hurt on impact that Clarabelle Cow was able to keep things from going south.

As Clarabelle marked off a few notes onto her cluttered To Do List, she wondered if it had anything at all to do with the fact that the boy was a Keyblade master. He was an appointed hero of worlds and experienced traveler of realities.

By some ironic twist of fate, he also was the type of person who could never sit back and watch, even if the cardinal rule of world-walking was never to meddle in the affairs of others. It was like throwing a six year old into a room filled with buttons and telling him not to touch anything.

Oh she'd heard rumors of his exploits. She'd pried the _real _stories out of those involved every time. That was her job, in fact, as a gossip columnist. She not only to use the words from their lips, read between the lines, and tell the story that they DIDN'T. The Daily Boggle, Disney Kingdom's most circulated newspaper, reached the thousands of residents within the Kingdom and she prided herself on maintaining the article's popularity to earn a consistent space on the second page.

Before the invasion of the heartless, the existence of other worlds had been kept a strict secret. No one outside of the Enchanted Kingdom's highest minds knew other worlds existed. Since the heartless had laid siege to the castle, awareness of entities outside of their realm spread. She had free reign upon the speculation of other worlds. She chased the most engrossing stories like a starving hound.

For a while, the gossip column revolved around the coming and goings of the Narnians, animal counterparts visiting from a parallel world. Now, it just so happened that the most riveting pieces of gossip came from the young boy looking over her shoulder her clipboard.

Today, she wasn't a gossip columnist. Today, she was an organizer, and a first-rate one at that.

She'd made it her personal agenda to make this upcoming party the event of the season, one they would remember for years to come. Or at least spark enough connections to earn a discount at the local beauty salon.

Was it wise to have the catalyst for chaos at her side?

She knew that Sora had absolutely nothing to do with fact that the chefs in the kitchen were falling behind schedule in the catering, that the reservations were completely disorganized and that the band was slacking off in their practice (something about mad scientists)… but she couldn't help but think that Sora was a determining factor in the chaos. None of these things had happened except when Sora was present.

In the ten years that she'd mastered the art of Party Hosting, this had been the first time that she'd been blindsided by so many setbacks. The party she'd been organizing for the better part of a year was in a mere week, and things were far from prepared. The only conceivable difference from all the other parties was Sora's presence, so was it really odd that she would make a connection?

To his credit, though, he was a very good errand boy. Things were quickly fixed when she sent him on any runs through the castle.

(It helped he could fly. That had been mentioned in the gossip column once or twice too.)

And boy would things be interesting with the three main subjects of her gossip column walking and talking amongst the party guests. Every moment with the Destiny Trio was gold. She could feel all the articles she wanted to write practically typing _themselves_ in her mind.

_Speak of the devil!_ She thought as the familiar sound of feminine giggling filtered in from the corridor outside. Both Sora and Clarabelle turned in time to see Kairi amble into the guestroom. She raised her head to reveal a charming smile that drew Sora and Clarabelle like a moth to flame. Even her dress today, though a simple purple design with frills at the hem of the dress, accented her figure and made her glow.

Max's older cousin, Debby Goof, must have given it to her earlier that morning. The Goof had made herself personally responsible for the care of the three children. Clarabelle internally complemented her fellow resident on her good taste. Sora was at Kairi's side even before Clarabelle could return the girl's smile and say hello.

"My, if it isn't Lady Kairi," she said and set her hooves on her hips, clipboard in the other hand. She was glad to see the young princess so lively. "What brings you here so early in the morning?"

Kairi came closer to Clarabelle beside the wooden desk where the rest of her paperwork sat. Within Kairi's arms was a black ball of fur that Clarabelle instantly recognized as Figaro the cat. Shortly after, Sora moved in to spoil the kitten rotten with attention. He had found the sweet spot behind the kitten's ears, an action that Figaro rewarded with obnoxiously loud purring.

Kairi shifted her weight on one leg, "This little thing almost knocked over the fish bowl in our room. I woke up right away."

Clarabelle laughed. "That must be Cleo."

"The cat's name is Cleo?"

"No, the fish." Clarabelle supplied. "They're sweethearts, but they weren't always. Back then, we had to hide Cleo in the guestroom because Figaro kept getting into all the other rooms trying to get at her."

Clarabelle leaned over and said in a lower voice, "The usual finicky business with cats and fishes, you know."

Clarabelle stood straight again and then continued, "He couldn't get past our defenses for a time. One day when we realized Figaro had found her, we came to see him with his face against the glass and not in the water. Cleo must have been a darling to Figaro because now he adores her."

Kairi stared, open mouthed and amazed. And then, with no change in expression save for a slight redness to her cheeks, she mumbled, "Oh, that's _cute_."

Sora was half leaning over and scratching beneath the kitten's collar when Figaro clawed at his uniform and made a quick lick at Sora's face before he could pull it away. Sora backed away, wiping his nose with an amused expression. Kairi hugged the kitten tighter and placed an affectionate kiss atop its head.

After, it swiped playfully at Kairi's necklace until Sora stole its attention again. She paid it no mind.

"I just want to hug him to death," Kairi said and Sora nodded understandingly as the kitten took to licking his fingers. "Pack him in a suitcase and steal him when I go."

"Her Majesty the Queen is awful attached to Figaro," Clarabelle said.

Kairi nodded, "Yeah, well… Dad never lets me keep any pets anyway."

Sora nodded understandingly, an action that made Kairi remember all the times they'd tried to hide a pet in his house. His mother had refused to let anything into the house with fur, feathers, scales , let alone anything that walked on more than two legs.

Puppies, Sora's apparent pet of choice, were ruled out by two of those restrictions. Despite Sora's adamant pleading to get one, his mother had not relinquished her tyrannical stance, not even when Sora had returned from his absence. Not even when he had gained a bizarre and slightly alarming ability to attract dogs from the neighborhood and birds from the pond, each with a strange tendency to neatly following him in a line. (Every time he was asked, Kairi watched him just shrug it off and say, "Maybe they know friends of mine.")

"How's everything going?" Kairi wondered when she noticed the clipboard.

Clarabelle's eyes lit up and the cowbell around her neck jingled in response to her sudden movements. She narrowed her eyes, shifting side to side as if to watch for eavesdroppers.

Kairi waited for her to come up for breath sometime in the middle of her rant, but she never did. Beside her, Sora was counting how many commas she could toss into the sentence before she ended them.

"Well, if you really want to know the down and dirty, Clara Cluck's been raving mad about Ludwig and the instrument incident, which, in case you haven't heard, I'll discuss with you later. She's been holding her temper for a good long while, so he's had it long and coming. Since then, Ludwig hasn't been near his lab and the minstrel's gallery is in shambles, plus, Horace Horsecollar's been up in arms in laughter, but he hasn't exactly been on Ms. Cluck's good side, if you catch my meaning. Just the other day-"

"I mean how's the party going?" Kairi asked, and looked confused when Sora showed her his hand. 5 commas.

Clarabelle corrected herself, standing straight again and clearing her throat. She probably hadn't even realized she'd been speaking an octave lower than her usual droll, "Ahem, it's going quite fine and dandy," she said. "Sora's been lending me a hand."

Sora grinned at the mention.

"Bit behind schedule though, so help is certainly appreciated." Clarabelle gave a pat on Sora's head.

"Want help?" Kairi wondered, settling Figaro in her arms more comfortably when he twisted into an odd position. He mewed in protest when Kairi almost set him down onto the floor. "Okay, okay."

Clarabelle waved away her offer as Kairi brought Figaro back into her arms. The kitten stopped struggling once back with her. "That's quite all right dear. I'm quite the connoisseur when it comes to class and all that it entails. There is no party like a party organized by yours truly."

Was Clarabelle posing?

The door opened behind them and the trio turned to see who it was. A young woman that Sora recognized but Kairi didn't came into the room with several pieces of folded paper carefully grasped in her hands. Her features were mild-mannered and the color of her eyes and short, cropped hair very closely matched the earthy browns of her dress. Her attire stopped just below her knees and she had to make sure that the tail end of her dress wasn't caught in the door as she closed it.

"They're finished!" the newcomer said and held out what looked to be several invitation cards, each one with an intricate design that differed from the other. One card had swirling accents of gold while the others were written in silver or blue ink. "I haven't looked over most of it, but these are the results."

Clarabelle clasped her hands together, "Roxanne, darling, have I ever told you what a lifesaver you are?"

"More than once?" Roxanne asked and peered around the guestroom as if searching for something, "Have you seen Max?"

Roxanne seemed slightly disappointed when Clarabelle shook her head. She hadn't seen the smaller Goof since earlier that morning. Clarabelle's voice was syrupy sweet as she teased, "Looking to spend some quality time with the Captain's son?"

Roxanne clapped her hands over her cheeks and shook her head.

Clarabelle took the invitations and opened them all one by one, inspecting them for quality. Her eyes widened and then narrowed, filled with anger, "Lord, Roxanne those printers are going to be the end of me. Look here, Roxanne, at the bottom right. 'His Makesty the Hing.' His _Makesty!_ Oh, Roxanne, I hope you go back down to the printers and make them fix it before I go down and toast them over an open fire-"

Kairi and Sora looked at each other. The kitten between them looked up and mewed in confusion.

Roxanne came beside Clarabelle as her melodramatic ranting continued and examined the invitation more closely to find the source of the complaint. She pursed her lips and shook her head. "I knew I should have supervised."

"-roast them on a spit and serve them for dinner-"

The sound of the cowbell ringing around Clarabelle's neck as she made threatening chopping motions prompted Roxanne to say, "I guess I'll go fix it then."

"-week! A week and they're still trying to give me a heart attack. I'll likely keel over before the festival-"

Sora patted Kairi's arm and moved away. He came up beside Roxanne with an open hand. She tapped her chin thoughtfully, "You up for a small errand?"

The room seemed brighter as Sora excitedly and ran over to the windows in response, unlocking one and then pulling them completely open until a slight breeze was coming into the room. Kairi was confused, but Roxanne must have understood what it meant because the gesture seemed to make her smile.

Kairi noticed it now that the curtains were moved aside, that on the tower on the other side of the castle was another open window. What she suspected was the printers room was all the way on the other side of the castle, connected by a long stretch of roof quite a distance below.

They all watched as Roxanne took a piece of paper from the desk and a quill from atop a stack of paperwork and scratched several words into the paper. She dotted the final sentence, humming a musical note, and then handed it to Sora half-folded.

"Give this to them and they'll fix everything. Promise." Roxanne said. Then, after a moment of thought, she quickly ran towards the window, pushing one side open wider.

Kairi made a small, "Oh!" as Sora made a running start towards the open window.

Before she even knew enough to try and stop him, Sora was already leaping out the window like a madman, and falling out of sight. Kairi was at Roxanne's side in an instant, leaning out the window with Figaro securely in her other arm, and watching Sora leap from tower to tower over dangerous heights. Several times, he caught a draft and used one of his infamous gliding abilities to cross the distance, and then he made her heart skip a beat as he fell. Just one quick extension of his arm and Sora would grab a flagpole or a stone jutting out of the wall, and his fall would be broken.

It only took a mere minute and he was on the other side of the castle, knocking on the window of the other tower as he balanced on an overhang. He was almost as small as a pea from her perspective. The printers' window opened and he slipped inside with the note.

"I love it when he does that," Roxanne said and Kairi just stared as the young woman straightened her skirt and proceeded to the door with the bad invitations. "I'd better get over to the printers."

"I thought you took care of it with that note?" Kairi wondered.

"No. It just says to wait for me before they do anything. I just wanted to watch him fly," she said with a sweet laugh and slipped out of the room humming the same tune that everyone on the world seemed to inherently know.

Clarabelle, who had instantly lost her anger to affection for Roxanne, "She's a good girl. She's good for Maxie."

Kairi turned to Clarabelle, Figaro swayed with her motions and mewed, "They're…?"

Clarabelle laughed and waved a hoof, "Don't be silly! Maxie's too wrapped up in trying to catch Mona's fancy that Roxanne only watches from afar. She's had a liking for him since they were children and it would be the most gossip-worthy news if only they'd just be the childhood sweethearts they should be. They look so pretty together."

"Well, just because they look cute together doesn't mean they're meant for each other. Why doesn't Maxie… um… I mean, why doesn't Max like Roxanne?" Kairi wondered.

"It's not so much the knight in shining armor so much as it's the damsel this time. Roxanne doesn't try to stand out to the boy. Because that's the way it is with all the sweet girls," Clarabelle answered. "They deserve more than they get, but they usually don't say much about it. Sometimes the people closest to us can be the most dense. Sometimes the ones we care about are the ones who just. Don't. Get. It. "

"Mmm…" Kairi said noncommittally.

Clarabelle marked off other notes on her clipboard, but she was peering at Kairi from the side. "You must know how that goes."

Kairi almost dropped Figaro. The kitten let out a mew of distress, trying to situate himself back into a comfortable position in Kairi's arms. "Wait, what?"

"Oh nothing. How have things been with the young sir?"

"The who?" Kairi said, finally composing herself.

"Why Sora, of course. You came a long way to see him," Clarabelle said and Kairi detected the slightest amount of eagerness hidden by false apathy. She was _trying_ not to look interested, but all signs pointed to her dying to know even the slightest tidbit about the two. After all, wouldn't that be something if there was romantic tension between the Keyblade Master and the Princess of Heart. It was downright fairytale.

"Of course. He's my best friend," Kairi frowned.

"Just best friends?" Clarabelle fished. "You're two peas in a pod. Birds of a feather. You two match so well, I could write an entire column on it."

"Please don't," Kairi laughed nervously. "My love life isn't as exciting as everyone makes it out to be."

"Please, you probably know everything from his favorite food to his favorite color," Clarabelle insisted and Kairi's cheeks turned a rosy pink when the words '_Ice Cream' _and '_Sky-Blue'_ came to mind as soon as Clarabelle finished.

"_Again,_ he's my best friend. It'd be silly if I _didn't_ know those things about him," she said. "Sora would know what mine and Riku's favorite color and food are for sure."

Clarabelle tapped her chin thoughtfully, "Well he can't say much of anything right now."

It wasn't until Kairi frowned that Clarabelle realized she might have been being insensitive and she waved her hooves in front of her defensively. "I don't mean to be cruel. I'm sure his voice will come back. Maybe he just needs time."

"Of course it will." Kairi sighed, moving to the window. She reached out and touched the material of the curtains. They felt good on her fingers. "I just… wish I knew what happened."

Clarabelle leaned forward and whispered behind a hoof, "Well, you, me and half the castle honey. We'd all like to know what happened with all that fuss they made and whatnot."

Kairi turned slowly, and looked up at her, "What?"

"Why, the great commotion they made when they took Sora back to the castle. Haven't you heard?"

Kairi shook her head. This was news to her.

"Well, here's the short of it, though truth be told I can never really just summarize things," she finished, but hesitation filled her features. It was genuine this time, as if she feared that what she had to say wasn't suitable for the princess. Inside, there was a twinge of disapproval and Kairi made it her mission to get everything out in the open if not just on principle that people should stop tip toeing around her. She could take whatever they could throw at her and then some.

"Could you do that for me?" Kairi wondered. She wondered if she'd have to use the puppy eyes. It would be a force to be reckoned with, particularly if she was holding a kitten. Cute begets cute.

Clarabelle relinquished graciously, "Well all right! But only because you're a sweetheart."

Clarabelle cleared her throat, "Well… if you recall a while back, Sora came to the castle not too long ago to see the King about this whole 'getting rid of the heartless' matter. All was quiet on the front, quiet before the storm and all. But as usual, things are never quiet for long. Next thing you know, they're going on another epic quest for the history books. Queen Minnie spills to me that they're jumping worlds again, saving this and that and the usual business that comes with being a hero," Clarabelle explained.

Kairi slowly grew more concerned with every word.

"And here's where things get eerie. One night, the four don't come home at all. They're missing for days on end and Queen Minnie says nothing but you can tell she's on edge. And when the Captain and the mage come home with Sora and the King, all of a sudden, they lock themselves inside certain parts of the castle and no one hears from them for a week. Isn't that odd?"

"That… is weird. Did you ever find out?"

"What? You mean why they went missing in action? Or why they were locked in the east wing?"

"Both," Kairi replied.

Clarabelle sighed, crossing her arms, "Well, as much of a sleuth and mind reader I pride myself on being, I wasn't able to gleam so much as a smidgeon of information. I didn't even get a morsel of gossip from those that were there. Not Roxanne, not Maxie, not the Captain, the court mage or even the King or Sora." She pouted. "Do you know how nerve-wracking it is to only have enough material for a sub-par column? Monday's column was muck. It wasn't my best work."

She patted Figaro restlessly, "Ah… I'm a little bit more worried about my friend right now."

"Ah? Oh yes. Forgive me, darling, I get carried away at times. Should I not have told you then?" she wondered. "It will make your pretty little head spin with worry."

Kairi shook her head, "No, I'm glad you told me. Me and Riku have been in the dark lately and no one wants to tell us anything. Not even King Mickey or Donald or Goofy."

"That _is_ surprising. Usually Captain Goofy is my frontline informant. He usually spills everything I need to know purely by accident."

Kairi exhaled slowly, "You're the first person that's actually let us know even a little bit about what happened. Riku asked King Mickey once, and he couldn't say anything. I bet Sora asked King Mickey not to tell us," she said, though her next words were half to herself. "It's like Karma for Riku. Only this time, I'm not allowed to know what happened either. Was it really that bad when they came home?"

"Well it's just that I hear my story from the girls and their point of view was… rather limited. The servants would pass by the locked chambers and press their ears against the door. My idea. Brilliant, really. And when they did, they could just barely hear all this racket going on behind closed doors. The residents downstairs supposedly heard all this yelling and all this furniture being broken," she explained and leaned in before she continued, "And the King set curfew for all the residents of the castle. He hasn't set curfew since the heartless invaded our walls. No one's seen any heartless, mind you, but they have heard people running back and forth in the halls outside their door, and shadows moving around in their rooms at night."

Kairi placed a worried hand over her lips, "Could be just rumors."

"Maybe, darling. Maybe." She paused, and then whispered in a way that gave Kairi the chills. "But maybe not."

She knew Clarabelle was just excited to gossip, but Kairi could feel the conversation moving towards a tone and subject that was making her uncomfortable. On the one hand, she wanted desperately to know what happened to Sora. On the other hand, she disliked the way she was using Sora's ordeal as the most popular buzz for the rumor mill.

"Does the King still enforce curfew?"

Clarabelle shook her head. "That's been done away with, honey. Now we can move about as late as we want."

Kairi looked confused, "Since when?"

And a tiny alarm went off in Kairi's head when Clarabelle replied, "Now that I think of it, since you two came."

The news was startling and her feet itched. She wanted to get out of the room. It had taken an inexplicable turn for the stuffy, and she found it hard to breathe despite the open window on the other side billowing fresh air into the room.

So this was part of the reason why everyone was so tight lipped around them. They mostly didn't know anything, save for secondhand experiences that left them to speculate things on their own. Hardly foundation firm enough to figure out anything themselves.

Still, what she'd learned felt _important _somehow, like the clues of what to do next were sitting in a pile of useless information. They were staring her right in the face, beckoning her to sift through everything and find it. Maybe she just needed someone to talk it out with. One person came to mind, and it certainly wasn't Sora.

She bit her bottom lip. And… maybe she also wanted someone to talk to because … she could feel the cold flicker of fear making its way up to her throat.

She swallowed the feeling as if it were something tangible and quickly excused herself, hugging Figaro close to her as she went.

---

Riku stared at the rainbow pile of muck that was his meal and poked it with his fork, wondering if it would break into song any time soon. He wouldn't be surprised, especially after his spoon had done so only moments before.

The moment he'd sat down to eat the absurdly colorful meal, the spoon had come alive in his startled fingers, spouting rhythmic sonnets and poorly formed limericks aimed to give him good cheer.

To his horror, even attempts to silence the spoon by shoving it into his food was met with loud gurgling and odd stares.

At least Riku was a quick learner. On his second trip to the cafeteria, he had banged each utensil on the counter before using them, avoiding the ones that insulted him for the offense.

Talking knives were probably bad company anyway.

Once he was sure that none of his eating utensils could rebuke him for his bad mood, it was back to the table in the corner to ruminate by himself. It was only when he was sitting in front of his tray again that he sighed, his gloomy thoughts already seeming to have stifled the hunger pangs.

It was the third time in two days that Mickey had refused to divulge anything on the matter of Sora. He wasn't sure at the time what he expected after being rejected twice, but he certainly hadn't expected a simple shake of the head before he was dismissed. Riku didn't put up much of a fight before he left.

Ironic, how he couldn't hold Mickey in rebuke for holding secrets. Not when he'd done the same for Riku once.

If Mickey was anything, he was reliable. Things told in his confidence _stayed_ in his confidence. He knew he could confide in the King about anything from his present concerns to his past fears. If he so much as hinted that he wanted the King keep all of it confidential, no one aside from them would know.

Back when he, Sora and Kairi were they were still chasing each other around the multiverse, trying not to get roped into the schemes of Organization XIII, he hadn't wanted Sora to see him in Ansem's form. He just wasn't ready for Sora to see him like that yet. He hadn't been able to accept the image of the dark-skinned man in the mirror, so how was Sora supposed to be able to do just that?

Riku stabbed the lifeless fork into his plate of food. He had justified his actions back then, and it had seemed right.

Now that it was being done to him? Well, it left him feeling hurt and offended and all kinds of wrong. Riku knew that this must have been one ironic orchestration of the universe to turn his own karma back on him. It wasn't Sora in the dark, now _he _was walking the universe blind and wishing more than anything that he wasn't. Mickey wouldn't tell him what was wrong with Sora, no matter how much he pestered the king.

At times, he felt irritated towards Mickey and Riku lashed out unconsciously in tiny ways: clipped words, pursed lips and short-lived accusing glances. Mickey certainly seemed guilty for it until Riku's softer side got the better of him and Riku's small acts of accusation ceased. After all, Mickey had done him this same favor once upon a time, so pressuring the King would only put them both in a place they didin't want to be.

Even if he _wanted_ to press the King for answers, he couldn't. Not for a while, anyway.

The mouse-eared monarch was going to be occupied all afternoon with kingly duties of his own. Mickey's schedule was packed with appointment after appointment with the townspeople, each eager to get even a few minutes audience with their leader. The long queue of people trailed outside the castle gates was evidence of his popularity with the people. One by one, each of the waiting citizens would be ushered into the castle to voice their own respective problems. It was an open session of sorts, one he remembered vaguely hearing about in old myths and dated storybooks. It left little time for Riku to spend with the King, and that meant that the little demons of his past would be banging around inside of his head again.

Not that he could blame Mickey for prioritizing the kingdom over killing time with Riku. Things were hectic, especially with the Kingdom's yearly celebration being organized at very nearly the same time this. Festival of Star-something-or-other.

If that weren't enough to give him a full schedule, he more recently confided in Riku that he was very close to departing on an off world mission later in the week, apparently one of the utmost importance.

He would have killed to have _someone_ to talk to at the moment, though. Some small part of him even considered going back to the cafeteria and retrieving the Sonnet Spoon so he could listen and not have to think anymore.

Luckily, the powers above must have heard his prayers, because just before he resorted to cutlery for company, the one person he could count on to have good timing made herself known.

She came bursting into the Great Hall earlier, breathless from a half-sprint. She came in a whirlwind of red and purple and hints of black, though the latter was from the cat fur that speckled her dress. That was easily remedied when Riku carefully wiped off of her once she was within reach. Kairi was completely unconcerned by it and moved away his hands.

She leaned forward just as he settled back on his place at the bench. She had planted her palms on the surface of the wooden table as he raised an eyebrow. Her words were short and to the point, "Heard some things. Can I talk to you?"

Riku didn't hesitate to stand up again. "Yeah."

"Come on, let's go somewhere."

Riku dumped his food and abandoned his tray as quickly as possible and together they shadowed away into the long corridor outside the Great Hall until they found a more secluded spot in an alcove just far away enough from the main corridor that their voices didn't carry. Two large sandstone pillars on either side were massive enough to hide them from the eyes of any passerby. Once Riku was sure they had their privacy, Riku dutifully found a suitable section of wall to lean against beside a window and Kairi move close enough so that her whispers could still be understood.

Kairi's explanation of Clarabelle's findings was short, sweet and to the point, characteristic of the girl in front of her. Riku listened intently, nodding occasionally, but not showing any other change in seriousness or mood.

Finally, when Kairi trailed off with the last bits of information, Riku's expression was decidedly grim. He thanked her and then crossed his arms, looking contemplative.

Kairi took the initiative. "What's on your mind?"

It was her subtle way of asking, 'What do we do now?'

Riku took some time to think, tapping his chin. To her credit, she was patient and withstood the length of his silence with ease.

"It's good we finally get a piece of it," Riku said finally, "but to help Sora, that's not much to go on."

"Isn't it?" she agreed. She had hoped Riku would pull sense out of the mess, but it was apparent that more discussion was in order.

She shifted her gaze, thinking back to the time that she had first come upon Riku in the Great Hall. Now that she was in front of him, she realized that his posture was worse than usual and his eyes were more inclined to scan the distance rather than to focus on her. He must have already been in an unhappy mood by the time she came to him. She knew this look on him and easily identified it as disappointment.

"Did you ask…?"

Riku pressed a finger to his temple, a sure sign that she'd been right. It was also apparent she'd touched a sore spot. "I did. Mickey isn't going to tell me anything. Looks like he promised Sora."

"Probably."

Riku shook his head. _So stupid. _

"When it comes to keeping quiet, the king's good on his word. At this rate, the real story's gonna come from somebody else," Riku surmised. Kairi approved of the idea, but found it considerably less appealing when she couldn't think of a sensible way to go about it. Most of their attempts to get Sora to talk were met with failure and creative ways to wordlessly change the subject. These types of secrets weren't topics that came up casually in conversation.

Her face lightened considerably as a thought came to her.

"We could lock him in a closet 'til he gives up," Kairi said, surprising Riku with a bit of good humor.

"Sora or the King?"

"If it's a really small closet, both," Kairi replied just as quick. "But we'd have to use duct tape instead of locks. They have built in keys."

Her face and her voice had been so serious that Riku couldn't hold back a small laugh.

"Yeah, right. Getting answers straight from the source is too convenient." A trace of humor remained, but Riku's voice grew softer as he looked down the corridor, "I don't know if he's ready yet."

From the look on his face, Kairi could see he still harbored a small piece of hope that Sora would find a way to communicate on his own, even just in part. After the note they'd found in the library it was become increasingly more clear that it he wasn't going to relinquish on his own. Maybe because he couldn't.

Sora had never kept secrets from them before. From the time they met until now, he'd always shared his own personal insight and feelings as easily as he had shared with them the contents of his lunch. The secrecy was so uncharacteristic of him, that in the back of his mind, Riku wondered if he was being forced to keep the secret.

Was someone or something holding him back?

"There's always Max or Roxanne," Kairi said, remembering the very short list of people that Clarabelle unintentionally given. "King's lips are sealed. Goofy and Donald are too close to him. I don't know Debby all that well… so maybe those two. They're reasonably… well, they're reasonable."

Riku thought for a moment, "It's a start…" and then slipped past her without another word. He moved down the hall and Kairi kept behind him like a shadow.

He never felt Kairi's eyes trailed up and down his form, marveling at his composure. She hoped in her own mind that she seemed just as together. Her gaze slid down his sculpted arm and stopped on his hand. Then on his fingers.

And she couldn't stop the feeling that they looked too lonely.

She increased her pace just barely enough so that she was walking more alongside him rather than behind him. Once she was sure that Riku wasn't looking, she reached out for the fingers as they walked down the hall, but a surprisingly small amount of insecurity was enough to bring her hand to a halt. She gathered herself. Maybe if she did it more subtly…

Tentatively, like she was asking permission, she grazed her fingers against his.

And held her breath when a swirl of darkness met her fingers. Or rather the hollow aura of where the darkness had once been in him and had never been since. As it had a habit of doing on rare occasions, echoes of his past that occasionally surfaced and brought the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end.

He didn't seem to respond, save to just shift his fingers just barely enough so her hand wouldn't slip away. It wasn't much. But he didn't let go either.

They were holding hands now. Kairi could hardly keep a smile from creeping into her face.

The action had been impulsive, one that she hadn't thought completely through until she was already touching him. She wasn't even sure whether it was for her own reassurance or for his, but the warmth of his hand around hers issued away most of her fears anyway. Fears about the residual dark. Fears about Sora. Fears about herself.

She was careful to only move her eyes down to their connection.

This hand, though far from pure, had carried her through the abyss and sought out her heart when he'd believed it lost. This hand was carrying her now in another sense, bolstering her against uncertainty and doubt.

Admittedly, there were still things between them that kept them from really reaching from each other. She could forgive his past, but it was difficult to forget his lapse of judgment. She couldnt ignore the scars inside him, etched and engraved by darkness trying to worm its way inside his heart, leaving empty trails through where the malevolent power had once moved.

Since their recent attempts to bridge the gap between them, though, it was getting easier.

Kairi had her ghosts. Riku had his. Those ghostly doubts danced at the edge of their minds, their actions, their thoughts. Some ghosts were less prominent than before and others, to Kairi's relief, were replaced entirely with the beginnings of specters of hope.

Both left behind by Sora on the islands, he had vowed to never let the darkness touch her again.

She believed him.

---

They moved through the castle with ease, especially since the sight of them deep in conversation and holding hands was hint enough for everyone to leave them alone. They spoke quietly and covertly, covering lighter subjects when people passed too close for their liking and reverting back to the more serious topics when they were alone in the more uninhabited parts of the castle.

They stopped only once and that was to ask a seamstress where Max or Roxanne might be. Luckily, the two were relatively nearby, and even in the same location as the other. They were both spending their time in the castle's inner courtyard, a designated work area for the carpenters as the festival's construction neared completion.

They took great care to keep their interaction to themselves. The only time either of them had become too loud was when Kairi had burst into laughter at the mention of the spoon incident, and he'd had to wait three full minutes before her laughs subsided long enough for him to say anything of importance.

They passed the servant's quarters after some time, moving into an intersection of hallways that branched out into different wings of the castle and Riku felt strangely relaxed.

If Riku had been on another world, he might have spent some time analyzing the surroundings to see if any threats were present. Riku had been surprised enough times on the battlefield to be aware, even when he was with Mickey, who had this strange ability to _feel_ danger coming.

Onlookers may have had the impression he was relaxed and aloof, but beneath the outer layers of his composure, he was usually tensed and ready.

It must have been the welcoming atmosphere of the world that had worn down his wariness, the comforting, protective hum of the Cornerstone over the entire castle gradually lulling him into a sense of security. Even the topic they'd begun to discuss was lighter in nature, drawing him into his thoughts .

That must have been why he was completely unprepared for what was coming next.

Just as they'd moved into the center of the hallway, a red and black blur came bounding around the corner at a speed that Riku just barely had time to react with a sharp intake of breath.

Whatever it was, it apparently had as fast a reaction time as Riku because it ended up leaping over the entire span of their height to avoid crashing into them.

In the span of two rapid heartbeats, Riku had already halted Kairi and spun her back behind him so that he was in between her and the new threat. In fact, Riku even had his hand drawn forward low in front of him, ready to summon the Keyblade to battle. A thought flashed in his mind: the threat everyone refused to speak of? Could this be it?

No, Riku realized when the blur landed. Just an honest mistake.

When Riku and Kairi had a chance to accurately survey the situation, Riku realized he was being dramatic. Of course there would be no heartless in the castle. Teenagers with oversized weapons maybe, but not heartless. All the tension drained from the atmosphere as humor and relief settled in its place.

"Sora!" Kairi said, a little breathless from the surprise. "I thought you were helping Roxanne at the Printers?"

Sora recovered from the near collision faster than humanly appropriate, flashing them a cheesy grin and a thumbs up cheery enough to remind them of a certain blue skinned genie they'd met before. Sora had obviously finished helping Roxanne with the printers from the looks of it.

He had the face of a boy who had discovered hidden treasure, his eyes glittering with a touch of mischief. He took an eager step forward, taking both Kairi and Riku's hands in his and bobbed his head in the other direction. He probably expected them to drop everything and follow. It was easy enough to get them to come when they were children, especially since he could be unfalteringly determined and sometimes he would be deliberately annoying until the other party gave in. It could be anything from a pretty stone, a new toy, a secret place. Whatever the discovery, he'd only have to pull them along and they would be off, even without a suitable explanation.

This time, they simply looked at each other and hesitated, obviously still hung up in their serious conversations before. Sora tilted his head in confusion, thinking he'd caught them at a bad time.

"What's up Sora?" Kairi wondered, trying not to sound fishy. Sora mistook this for curiosity, so he pointed an excited finger down the hall where he'd come, his own confusion instantly forgotten. He could hardly contain himself and Kairi laughed, glad to see that him so lively.

Riku had a similar expression on his face, at ease, though a bit guarded and careful. He shook his head, "You kids go ahead. I've got some stuff I need to take care of first. Find me a little later?"

Sora motioned with a bigger emphasis in the direction he was trying to pull Kairi, using comically wide sweeps of his hand. When Riku dismissed the offer, Sora's face fell, replaced with a small pout. He was not impressed as Riku descended into laughter, or when Riku strode forward, placing an amused hand on his shoulder.

"Don't look at me like that, Sora. I'll see what you want to show me tomorrow, okay? _Tomorrow_. What I'm doing right now is important."

Riku made an exasperated noise when Sora made a face at him. "Well, how about later, huh? It might not even take that long to finish my thing, all right?"

When Sora raised his eyebrows, Riku said, "It's a long story, so I'll tell you later. Kairi's waiting."

Sora's face lit up as he remembered his original intentions and he pulled Kairi forward without any further delay.

Kairi couldn't stop a surprised yelp from escaping her lips. She wasn't sure how Sora and her had accomplished it, but they spun around the corner with alarming speed. Against all reason and physics, Kairi was still on her feet in the end and she couldn't hide the smile on her face. A delighted squeal came involuntarily, even as she spared one last glance at Riku as his image disappeared around the corner.

Her distraction was quickly remedied by another sharp turn around another corner and the realization that Sora's fingers were curled so tightly brought her back to the here and now where her heart was beating furiously.

She must have been doing _it_. She was touching him, but she was also _feeling_ the extension of his aura in the warm energy of his fingers.

It must have been her status as a princess that allowed her to do so. While she had learned a great deal about what it meant to be a Princess of Heart from the refined princesses of other worlds, there was still a great deal that even they didn't know. Kairi was an anomaly, a young woman with undiscovered potential and abilities that she could only discover by falling end over into them on accident.

This one particular sensing ability she had discovered soon after returning home, the very contact of Sora's hand against hers and the charm in between had seemingly sparked something in her to life that had been sleeping before. After, she found she could have tiny glimpses into the state of a person's essence, just by touch. Application through shaking peoples' hands was brief, very ephemeral and very faint... but always present. Eventually, she was able to tap into the subtle nuances of each contact. Each touch was different, in what Kairi could only vaguely describe with color or temperature. Even if done with the same person, it would deviate in experience, a fact that she attributed it to how people were changing every day. They were never the same person they were the day before as they were in the present.

Touching Sora's heart after barely grazing Riku's was such a big shock, it was almost like dipping her hands in hot water after standing out in a snow storm.

When she had reached out for Riku's hand before, her spirit met the haunted, strong spirit of a boy-turned-man too soon. Her essence had swirled and mixed with his, and it was like walking down a dark alleyway surrounded by suffocating dark. Only the dark never touched her, it hovered at the edge of her vision with no intention of coming anywhere near. With Riku, she had felt _safe_. She'd felt his protectiveness and determination like a wide force field, extended to prevent history from repeating and caring for her better than he cared for himself.

With Sora, it was almost like she had stepped out from the cool shade and into the sun. Though things were disjointed and almost… strange. Like looking through glasses that weren't hers, the world inside Sora's aura was warped and so slightly off center that she almost didn't detect it. But things were also so much sharper. Brighter too, almost to the point where it was blinding.

At first, she thought maybe the disorientation was a result of the adrenaline, the intrigue of what Sora might find so fascinating and urgent affecting her perception. A second examination of the emotions stirring in her chest revealed an unfamiliar flutter that she couldn't attribute her special ability to _touch_, not really.

She didn't bother to investigate the sensation, or its nature. She simply enjoyed it, baskedin it.

The tiniest details of the world she had neglected before came to her in a rush. The rays of light shined into the hallway through the windows, splashing the colorful tints of faded red and blue banners onto the walls around them.

Sora had slowed his run, so she could run alongside him and not behind him, and that was when she noticed the time of day. The day was coming to a close and the sun was barely crashing into the horizon. Splashes of color of almost every shade made her eyes widen. She'd seen sunsets before, but this…

She hadn't even known she was laughing again until Sora looked to her with the most brilliant smile. It made her breath catch in her throat, but only a moment.

They tore past staircases and long, glowing hallways adorned with candles and intricate architecture. They passed by surprised servants and chattering patrons. They ran past fountains and towering sculptures of heroes past. They ran until her legs were tired and sore, but she insisted they keep going even when he slowed down to let her rest. Sora stared back with sweet affection and finally came to a stop as they approached a long, dim corridor that only a single candle was there to illuminate. She was careful to watch her steps as it turned into a spiral staircase of stone. He placed an arm around her back and ushered her higher, the suspense only increasing her excitement.

After an eternity of stairs and doors that led to nowhere, he stopped her, allowing the two of them to catch their breath.

Two nondescript wooden doors sat unimpressively before them, beckoning her forward. She stepped up at his insistence, his arm sweeping in front of her. He turned the doorknob slowly, and Kairi held her breath as he slowly pushed it open. The sight before her made her gasp as he brought her inside.

Beautiful.

---

Riku didn't waste any time looking for Max and Roxanne when the two troublemakers left his sight.

The open courtyard was a bustle of animals, equipment and unfinished banners spread out over a large expanse of field. Decorations, ladders, tools, scaffolding and other miscellaneous items had their own individual junk piles at different corners of the towering stone walls. Carpenters banged away at the beginnings of what looked to be a stage as gossiping maids painted and prepared the more finished parts of the construction.

When Riku walked into the courtyard, he immediately spotted Roxanne on the northeastern side. She was standing apprehensively beside Max, trying to prevent his father from toppling a dangerously high pile of pots and pans. A loose rope coiled on the ground spoiled their efforts, ensnaring Goofy's ankle and guaranteeing the Captain an abrupt tumble into the pots and pans anyway, despite Max's best efforts. Max only cringed at the loud clatter before sighing hopelessly, seemingly used to his father's clumsiness. Roxanne came to him again, pulling his father out before murmuring something silly to lighten Max's exasperation.

Max was the first to sense his approach, but when they all saw him shift his eyes to the entrance, Riku was greeted with several warm smiles. He tried to return the good spirit.

_Oh, they wouldn't be smiling if they knew exactly why I was here. _

"Hey Riku, what's up man?" Max wondered. "Things've been kinda crazy around here lately."

Riku looked around, "I can tell. Festival?"

"Yeah. Couple of days 'til Doomsday. Clarabelle's a nutcase when it comes to this stuff. Everything has to be done to the tee or she goes all nutzoid," Max rolled his eyes. "She had a two hour rant earlier about Donald setting something on fire. It was ridiculous."

"Sounds like a party. Hope I'm invited," Riku said.

Riku stepped back when Goofy's excessively enthusiastic voice broke in.

"Why O'course! Don't be silly Riku! You're always welcome, ahyuck!" Goofy said, trying to detach a pot from his head. It had gotten lodged onto his scull in the fall. Roxanne took hold of one side while Goofy tried to pull away. His head slipped out of the pan with a loud pop and the momentum sent him falling back into the pile with another clatter.

Riku briefly wondered how Sora was still alive after having travelled so many worlds with the destructive duo before he was brought back to reality by the more sensible Goof.

"To tell the truth, I think you're actually the guests of honor during the whole…" Max moved his hands, searching for the right words. "The whole shebang. You, Kairi, Sora, Donald, Goofy. You know, the gang."

Riku crossed his arms, "All of us?"

Goofy laughed. "Well, sure! After all, you're the reason why we have all these stars in the first place. If they would'a disappeared and then where would we be? Not a very good Starlight Festival unless you got stars to celebrate and all, right?" Goofy explained. He gave Riku a pat on the shoulder, which he fought to shrink away from.

"I suppose," Riku said, though he felt a strong distaste for the captain's choice in words. Riku was hardly a savior of anything. Maybe one day in the future when he'd done enough good in the multiverse, he'd be able to accept honors, but for now he was just someone trying to make up for past mistakes. Having him of all people for a guest of honor seemed like a cruel joke or at the very least an ironic twist of fate. After all, he'd caused more than a few stars to blink out before he'd even started saving much of anyone. Sure, his journey had been made with good intentions to restore Kairi's heart. He'd still sacrificed many a world in order to do it. He had voluntarily chosen the welfare of his best friends over the welfare of entire worlds.

He would've felt more comfortable being burnt at the stake rather than celebrated for what he did.

On second thought, maybe just beaten with a stick. Being burned at the stake was outdated and it would have made an awful mess.

Roxanne must have detected some of his discomfort because she changed the subject, "Would you like to help? There's still a lot to be done and we'd really enjoy your company out here."

Riku spied out of the corner of his eyes few carpenters that had stopped their work to their conversation unfold. Some at least had the grace to drop their eyes back to their work, but one worker even injured his hand with a hammer, trying to look productive and failing.

"I'd love to, but I have some things to take care of first," Riku said and then shifted his gaze from person to person. "Can I talk to you and Roxanne about something?"

Roxanne and Max looked at each other and gave a shrug. "Well sure! I don't see why not. I'm free for the moment anyway." Roxanne said.

Goofy straightened. "Why, you kids go and chat. I'll handle all this out here, you can count on me," Goofy said determinedly and saluted in the most exaggerated fashion. Even before Max could protest and try to keep his father from destroying some other poor soul's work, he had marched away to another side of the courtyard to assist a young maiden carrying a box of assorted decorations. She accepted easily until she realized _who_ the offer had come from, and then hastily tried to retrieve the basket from Goofy's 'helpful' grasp.

"I guess," Max shrugged, though his eyes were still following his father with much concern.

Riku looked around again. The eavesdroppers went back to their projects again, renewing their work with new vigor. Unconvinced, Riku pursed his lips and motioned to a more secluded part of the courtyard where unmarked crates were stacked. They were well within view of everyone in the field, but at least they would be out of earshot.

"Come on, let's talk over there."

They dutifully followed Riku, chatting lightly with each other about the banners. Riku kept decidedly quiet on the short walk, still debating with himself on the proper way to start. He'd been confident speaking to Kairi, but now that he was here, he wasn't so sure. He still hadn't quite decided by the time all three of them stood at the appointed spot in front of the supply crates, a far too short distance for his taste.

Max was first to speak, "What's up Riku? What's on your mind?"

Riku hesitated. Great. Now what?

He _could_ just surprise them out right with a question, catch them off guard while they weren't expecting it. They probably thought he was just pulling them aside to ask advice, or even to gossip about the castle's latest events. Max had even made an opening for him, allowing him the opportunity to get straight to the heart of the matter.

Still, Riku felt that it wasn't the right course of action at the moment. It almost felt like going through with it would be the equivalent of beating them over the head with a club. For this delicate sort of situation, he had to exercise a little more finesse. Get them opened up and be sympathetic to his plight before asking a thing.

Pressured by the silence, Riku was speaking before he could really compose himself, "Me and Kairi and Sora have been through a lot this past year or two."

Max and Roxanne looked at each other. "I see," Max said, mood falling.

He paused again when someone passed by a little close for his liking. "Things that no one else has really gone through but us. So we're kind of connected in a way. We _know_ each other."

Riku paused, feeling awkward again. This was something akin to finding a working path in the woods. If their expressions were anything to go by, he'd found a fork in the road and charged off into the bushes to his left.

_Whatever, just keep going_, he thought. He'd gotten this far, he might as well finish.

"So… Sometimes we feel what the other is feeling. We finish each others' sentences. We get a sense of what the other's thinking. We're connected."

Riku watched them carefully as they nodded,. "Kairi and I have been feeling the same thing lately. That even though it's been quiet on our end of the universe, though everyone we really care about is safe and sound… there's still something wrong."

Max swallowed, "Ya think? With what?"

"Sora," he said, not skipping a beat.

And then there it was. Like a wave, the almost tangible change in atmosphere had washed over them at the mention of a single name.

Riku easily caught the first signs of their nervousness: shoulders tensed, hands seized by nervous fidgeting, frozen expressions. Still, it surprised him. He had expected them to be elusive on the subject, but not this much. He felt like he had stepped on a switch that brought about a premature end to his would-be investigation.

Riku softened his tone and he relaxed a little himself. It could be that they were only tense because Riku was tense. He knew how negative feelings were contagious.

"Me and Kairi are… worried," Riku said. He watched as Roxanne and Max's expressions softened slightly. He wasn't born into the world a public speaker, but he knew he needed to be honest. The residents of Disney Castles were naïve, but they certainly weren't simpletons. Sometimes it wasn't complicated explanations or manipulative nudges that could sway them, but the most subtle stirrings of honesty and need.

So he dug deep, like Kairi had taught him to do and he just let it flow without censoring or impeding any of his thoughts, "Me and Kairi have… done some things we're not proud of in the past, direct or indirect, and Sora's gotten the short end of all our mistakes. He always does and it pisses me off all the time how he just _takes_ it like it's his job to take it. And I guess after what everything, I … _we_ just want to make sure we do everything we can to watch out for him."

"I can understand that," Roxanne spoke and her face was so forgiving that Riku couldn't help but feel grateful. His hope was held in suspense as he realized Max was still silent. It shocked him that the smaller Goof was so unmoved. Riku sighed and ruffled his own hair to try again. Maybe he just had a poker face. Maybe he certain someone _did_ feel it. Maybe he just needed a little coaxing…

_Dig deeper_, he imagined Kairi's voice in his mind.

"Listen. Me and Kairi can _feel_ that something is wrong with Sora. And… it's tough not knowing. Word is that you and Roxanne are the only ones who know what went down, and after you two, I really don't know where to go," Riku said. When he still didn't receive an answer, "I know that you and Max were there with him when he needed you, and I'm grateful. But what he went through, it wasn't normal. And we need to know."

Riku looked behind them and eyed a certain Captain of the Guard knocking over some scaffolding in the background. Max followed Riku's eyes to the man and the two boys watched Goofy stroll across the courtyard together, "Haven't you ever seen someone go through something and wish you could make it easier for them?"

Max's eyes were distant and thoughtful. A crack in the façade. Riku knew he touched on a soft spot. He had to push harder.

"Hurts, doesn't it?"

Max was quiet for some time. The young woman at his side was watching him as carefully as Riku as, gauging her decision purely on him. Roxanne had been an open book a moment before, one whose pages were begging to be read. One small movement from Max, a purse of his lips and a hardening of his eyes, and she was closed again. An unspoken agreement hovered between the two, strengthening Roxanne's persistent silence. If he could just get Max to give in, Roxanne would tell him everything, he just knew it.

Max sighed, closing his eyes and waving off Riku as if he were annoyed, "I made a promise. So did Mickey. We can't tell you anything."

Riku felt a wave of anger rise up in him, particularly when he had made the extra effort to even speak to Max on a personal level. He rarely spoke about the demons that haunted him nightly, and it took much prompting and even a few intense arguments with Kairi to even make Riku feel it was okay to show.

All that effort and Max really felt nothing? Riku tried to ease his anger by clenching and unclenching his fist at his side, and he hoped the creaking of his leather gloves weren't too loud.

"Listen. _Max_," he tried again. Frankly, how the heck was he supposed to come across now?

Max locked eyes with Riku, and the fire inside was extinguished. There was something different in the way the words crossed his lips, the way his shoulders relaxed, the way he returned Riku's gaze unfalteringly.

"Like I said, me and Roxanne were both there, but so what? _I_ made a promise," Max insisted again. "_I_ can't tell you anything."

Max's eyes wandered to Roxanne and his words had somehow changed from hard-edged to subtly sympathetic. Roxanne's eyes had widened and then her countenance changed, radiating admiration for the teenager beside her. She'd sensed the change in him too.

"Riku… People like you and me, we keep our promises," Max's eyes were on his father, his eyes revealing he was thinking of a time not so long ago when all he could do was wait and pray, "but we also understand what it's like to feel helpless."

Max slapped Riku on the back as he passed. "So good luck figuring out what happened. I've got to make sure everything's done on time or Clarabelle will freak out. I'll see you later, Roxanne."

Riku watched him retreat, filled with a deep gratitude that left him speechless. Roxanne solved that problem for him by stepped forward. Amidst the clamor and the banging of the courtyard, he heard her words loud and clear.

"_He _promised." She said. "I didn't."

---

The view that awaited her on the other side of two ordinary doors struck her speechless and breathless all in the same instance.

Her eyes roamed the ornate the sunroom before her. Great pillars of white rose up at different points of the room, leading the glass panes of the expansive windows to a stained glass masterpiece overhead.

Sparse, carefully considered furniture accented the room at different points, splashed by in hues of vibrant reds and yellows from the colored glass.

She ambled into the room after Sora, realizing with even more surprise when that the room itself had not been the point of their journey.

Her eyes adjusted to the light, and saw that just outside the glass panes was a view of the massive expanse of kingdom below. They were standing atop what Kairi assumed was the highest tower of the castle and the entire town lay before her like an offering, a feast for the eyes.

Row after row of houses, city buildings, and shops stacked on top of the other in the curve of the valley. Two mountains of breathtaking size held the kingdom protectively between them, beckoning the sun to set between where the sea was waiting to catch it in the distance.

Kairi placed a hand over her heart. It beat fiercely in wonder.

Before she get a hold of her surroundings, Sora pulled her forward and pushed open the glass door across the way. He was behind her in an instant, placing excited hands on her shoulders and ushering her out onto the balcony with a goofy smile. They didn't stop until they came to the railing.

Sora did something of a double step with his feet, and then dramatically stretched out his arms to the view.

A gentle breeze ruffled Kairi's purple sundress as she laughed. Sora's voice was silent at the time, but the action was so pronounced that she could practically hear what he would have said like an echo in her mind, "Ta-dah!"

She brushed red locks of hair behind her ears against the soft flutter of wind and took one, slow sigh.

"Would you look at that," she trailed off, speechless. "Riku's gonna be sorry."

Sora gave a resigned shrug, dismissing the thought. He'd tried, and Riku had refused the offer. He'd had 'more important' things to do. His loss. Besides, he could always drag the stubborn boy up another time. The sunroom wasn't going to sprout legs and move to another part of the castle any time soon (that was something only the kitchenware was fond of doing. The sunroom was dependably inanimate). Still, it did bother Sora that the majority of Riku's time at the castle wasn't with him. For a best friend who should have missed him to death, and carried a worried chip on his shoulder the size of a gummi ship, he sure spent an awful lot of time with his head in the books. What he should have been doing was hunkering down beside Sora and figuring out new ways to wreak absolute havoc without getting caught. After all, it had been long time since he'd gotten in trouble, and he feared his reputation for mischief was starting to suffer.

Maybe Kairi could convince him to relax a little for once.

"Who showed you this?" she wondered about the view.

Sora brought his hands up and did two successive motions. First, he brought his hands up, flapping them in an eccentric talking motion. Then, he drew his hands up near his head like two objects suspended on both sides. They were both quick, almost indiscernible motions, but Kairi had a slight inkling of what he meant.

"Who's that supposed to be? Donald and… Goofy?" she smirked when Sora nodded. "Sora, just… this is amazing… Look at everyone, they're so small from here."

Sora took out his notebook and scribbled something noncommittal about water balloons.

"Sora!" Kairi slapped his arm when he tried to look innocent. "That's terrible! Just don't blame me when the King makes you sit in a corner for a day or two."

Sora nudged her with his shoulder.

Kairi made a noise with her tongue, "Yeah whatever, you dork."

Sora returned his attention to the view, resting his elbows on the railing and making himself comfortable. He inhaled deeply, sounding satisfied and full.

Kairi mirrored his actions, coming up so close beside him that their bare shoulders made the lightest of brushes. The close proximity had been an accident, but now that she could feel the inviting warmth of his shoulder, she couldn't bring herself to pull away. She shuffled experimentally, moving ever so slightly and was pleased when Sora didn't move away from her touch.

An idea came to her in that moment, inspired by the contact. The time just seemed _right _for a little something extra, she decided. He was sun kissed, warm to the touch, and even the shadows of the waning afternoon accented his features into a picture perfect sight. He was distracted at the time, eyes moving along the winding streets, stopping occasionally to watch the bustle and hurry at day's end.

In fact, he was so busy staring out at the kingdom that he didn't know she was studying him so closely.

She felt soft amusement from Namine, and was pleasantly surprised when her inner self helped to bolster her courage. Just when she thought about turning back and letting the moment pass, Namine gave her the slightest of nudges. Kairi managed to straighten up just long enough to bring her arms around his neck in a close embrace. Sora seemed to tense up at first, but she'd felt him relax in her arms as she spoke.

"You always give me the best," Kairi said. "Thank you Sora. It's beautiful. I'm glad I got to see this with you."

She pulled away and returned to her spot at his side, heart secretly racing. She let the silence sit between them, with the tang of excitement lingering in the air like an aftertaste. She felt conflicted, though, uncertain if she would have done it at all if Riku were there.

A part of her was glad that Riku wasn't there with them. If he had been there on her other side, she would have felt obligated to turn and give him a similar embrace. Rarity gave things value, and since Sora was the only one present to receive this particular act, she felt it was special.

On the other hand, if Riku had been there, she was certain the action would earn from him a bit jealousy. The two boys competed with each other often enough, and Kairi would have been hopelessly oblivious not to know she was often the center of their rivalry. When she realized that she almost liked the idea of a jealous Riku, she guiltily shoved the idea into the corner of her mind, just as mild disapproval rose from the part of her that was Namine.

Being a princess of heart offered no more insight in her own affairs or relationships or if these conflicting feelings were even appropriate. She bit her bottom lip.

Kairi shook her head light, deciding it was better to just be happy and enjoy the moment while she could. Since Destiny Islands had been seiged by the dark, she'd gotten used to running full speed, with life and the multiverse relentlessly throwing challenge after challenge in her path. Considering her past luck, the sudden lull of peace was sure to be broken in the weeks or even days to come by yet another invading evil, so times like these were to be remembered and treasured.

It came to her suddenly that she'd never been able to fully watch a sunset before.

Destiny Islands harbored some of the most beautiful sunsets she'd ever seen in her life and she'd ended so many of her late afternoons watching the last light of day play tricks on the water. After a while, the glowing orb of the sun would become too intense to behold with the naked eye at and it was only after the sun sank below the horizon that she could watch and witness. Here in the Enchanted Kingdom, the sun was far easier on the eyes and almost cartoony in its lessened intensity. This particular sunset, she could watch in its entirety. It was well past breathtaking, something that had surpassed her expectations for an otherworldly sunset.

"I used to watch these alone and wish you and Riku were there. Walking home school by myself was the worst," she said and curled an arm around his, feeling satisfyingly normal. After all, this was what it was supposed to feel like. To be normal. To be able to stop, to laugh, to watch sunsets, to absorb the worldly sights around them.

"But we'll stay together from now on, right?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt strange. The high she'd been riding on seemed to fizzle out and die as a long silence followed.

Kairi hadn't been expecting much of a response. Sora's silence contantly reminded her of his condition. Still, her words hung in the air like someone had snatched them from her and put them on display. Just a minute before, she'd been content, bathing in the company of her best friend and looking fondly towards the future. Now it felt almost like the heartbeat of the world had died down to a nervous hum.

A soft dance of pins and needles had crawled up her arm from where she touched Sora, and she felt the glow of his happiness fade to what felt like… a cool indifference?

Suspicious of the sudden shift of unsettled emotions she felt from the boy beside her, she tried to catch a glimpse of his face.

"Sora?"

When Sora turned away, that strange feeling took hold again. Cold premonition seized Kairi's heart.

---

Once Roxanne started, there was no stopping her. She was a well of information, and it slowly occurred to Riku during her explanations that maybe she hadn't just been a bystander. Roxanne spoke with a clarity that only those at the heart of things could possess. Riku wasn't dealing with rumors or secondhand stories as Kairi had. Roxanne was quickly turning out to be a firsthand witness, tried and true.

"When I first met Sora, he was barely flying in from Destiny Islands," she started thoughtfully. "I was with Max at the time with some papers for the King, when Max introduced me to him. Normally, I don't really see otherworlders, let alone the Keyblade master. I'm just a handservant, see. I'd just been at the right place at the right time because Max suggested me when the King was selecting an attendant for Sora."

Roxanne beamed. Riku tilted his head. He and Sora had never been assigned attendants before. Roxanne answered his unasked question, "Ah, well. Mickey is very, very busy these days but he wanted Sora's needs tended to."

"His needs?" Riku asked.

Roxanne shook her head, "Not what you're thinking. I was only supposed to do little things here and there. Let him know meal times, make sure he knows where different rooms are, fetch him if the King wanted to meet with him… and ah…. Keep him out of trouble."

"I think I get it now." A smirk tugged at Riku's lips.

Roxanne scratched her cheek, "I liked him. He… was so bright and happy and pure. They don't tell the servants much, but I think I already knew from the beginning he was the keyblade master. He had to be, he was like all the rumors said. Mickey, Goofy, Donald and him were close and everything they said about him was true. "

"What happened after?" Riku asked, coaxing her on when she was veering a bit off course.

"Mmhm… The first week or so, they were mostly in the library, surrounded by books and papers and research. Sometimes me and Debby Goof would find them in the study at really late hours talking and reading over the firelight."

"They were looking for something, maybe?" Riku pointed out. "Did you ever see?"

Roxanne looked flustered, and almost ashamed. "Well, that's- that's just… that's so presumptuous for someone like me. I'm only a handservant in the company of a Keyblade master and… and… just what right would I have to pry into the affairs of a _king_."

"Sorry I asked," Riku said, surprised. He tried to be sympathetic. "Relax. I didn't mean any harm. I was only trying to figure this out. I want to help Sora and the King. I thought you might have seen something I could look into later."

Roxanne nodded, "I want to help you, I do. But even if I asked, I don't think he would have told us much. He knows we worry."

"Might be better that way. It's not a privilege to know what we know sometimes." Riku admitted, though he was speaking more to himself than Roxanne at the time. Knowing what they did about the dark, the nobodies, and the nature of the more foreboding worlds of the multiverse would leave most of the care free residents of the Enchanted Kingdom huddling in dark corners talking to themselves. "The burden can heavy."

Riku saw how attentive she was being, "Never mind. Go on."

"Whenever I brought them something to eat at night in the library, I always saw them looking at the older books that were falling apart, if that helps."

_What could they possibly find by searching in past_, Riku thought to himself. What books did he read? "Again, I don't mean to push, but did you spot any titles? I need something. Anything."

Roxanne shook her head, but here eyes grew distant as she tried to recall anyway. "They were all musty and… most of them were worn away and weathered. I didn't think much of what they were reading at the time. I only knew much later that it was relevant to the heartless and that's just because Debby told me so. At the time, we just thought he was just catching up with Mickey, getting familiar again. I didn't know if reading was Sora's hobby or pastime."

Sora? A reader? Riku laughed a little.

He motioned for her to go on after a moment of her confusion.

"Sora didn't need much attending. He was so accustomed to the castle that he only every asked me one or two questions. It was mostly just talking about you and Kairi. So those first few days were very uneventful. It was much later in the week that I learned they were leaving offworld. Me, Max and the Royal court were able to see them off, but the destination remained secret."

"Nothing there either, huh?" Riku wondered. Roxanne shook her head apologetically.

"No. I'm sorry."

"Not your fault."

Roxanne's eyes were distant. "He was very nice to me. He liked to tell me stories when I asked, and he always meant well. He was very kind. Back then, he felt… _whole_." Then she frowned and Riku physically felt the fear creep back into Roxanne's thoughts. He could smell fear on her like he could smell the dark. It was gradual, slow and subtle, but it was definitely there in the air between them. It snuck up on her as surely as he could feel it creeping up on himself. "It was when he came back that he was… different. It was all because of the time they were gone, I know it."

"How often did they return here."

"Well, every other day, almost. They always resupplied or had audiences with the people, or even just to see the Queen. We never worried because they were never gone long. They always came back."

Riku frowned, knowing what was coming next. "And then one day they didn't."

Roxanne nodded, looking grave.

"They disappeared for a time. No transmission. No letter. No bottle. Nothing. It wasn't until Minnie went to the Cornerstone to pray that they returned home from offworld." Roxanne explained. "The ship landed and we didn't think anything was wrong. But Mickey came out, telling us that they needed emergency care. Everyone was a mess. It was… not good."

"That serious? Well, how come nobody had any curative magic? Any potions or elixers would've done. The castle's never in short supply, not while Mickey's running the place." Riku insisted.

"We did. So many times. We were so scared for them," Roxanne lifted her eyes from the ground. "You see, the magic helps a lot and I've seen it do wonderful things! It heals the worst of our injuries, and those in dire straights can always count on the King if he can help with his keybalde."

Roxanne trailed off a bit, significantly quieter. "… but too much of the magic and the body forgets what it's like to heal itself. Too much at once is dangerous, so when they came back and things were really bad… well, we could only use enough to keep them from…you know?"

"I know," he said, drawing on his previous experience and gleaming a bit of insight on the way his partnership with the King had worked. Mickey had gone great lengths not to overuse magic whenever possible. Even in the most serious of scuffles, Riku had been lucky enough to avoid having to cast multiple Curaga spells. Mickey was a careful fighter and Riku's welfare had always taken priority.

The invisible enemy became all the more daunting to Riku. It was apparently something too powerful to protect Sora from.

Riku's features softened when he noticed her wringing her hands. The residents of the Enchanted Kingdom, even Roxanne, had seen little troubles aside from the heartless. Even then, the heartless left little evidence of the carnage they inflicted. They never left bodies. They devoured the heart, leaving no evidence that trouble had even taken place. Such a grave homecoming of the King and his injured knights must have been a scary shock for people who never bore witness to the aftermath of battle.

Roxanne, at least, had the constitution to gather herself and continue. Riku suspected she was empathic to his urgency.

"We brought them to the rooms and tried to make them better. The first few days we managed to make them well enough so that they could leave the room. Only that's when everything went wrong. Sometimes when I would come into Sora's room to check on him, Sora would start… I don't know, he'd start talking to me like… I don't know. The way he acted and the way he felt, he just… wasn't in one whole piece anymore." She stopped, "Do you know what I'm talking about?"

"Yes," Riku said, rubbing his forehead.

"It never got bad until one day I came to his room with some new bandages and water, and then there was all this noise inside. Debby came outside, but she never told me what was going on in the room, she just told me to stay out," said Roxanne. "The look Debby's face as she came rushing out of the room. She even slammed the door. She didn't even let me ask… "

Riku must have looked significantly disturbed because Roxanne suddenly looked apologetic. She moved back to the topic at hand, since the things she was currently saying had such a detrimental effect on him.

"After that, Mickey and Donald and Goofy came and it got quiet after a little bit. I guess they fixed everything as best they could." Roxanne moved beside Riku and sat down on a crate. She wiped her hands with the towel that was tucked into the sash at her waist. She still had some sawdust at the tips of her fingers from working with the carpenters earlier in the day. It was a nervous motion.

"The day after, me and Max had to come help Sora get to the throne room where the Cornerstone was. He couldn't walk on his own, and Donald and Goofy were still a little hurt too so me and Max... We took him downstairs where the Cornerstone of Light was and they didn't come out until the darkest hour of the night. His Majesty had me and Max closed off the wing that day. Everyone but me and Debby went into the room. We stayed outside bringing them whatever they asked for."

She looked up at Riku, "When me and Max went to our rooms at night, weird things would happen and I couldn't sleep alone. Max let me stay with him unless he had to be with Sora during one of his… moments."

"Moments?" Riku uncrossed his arms. It was a motion that made Roxanne shuffle slightly.

"I don't know. That's what Max called them. Times when Sora wasn't _Sora. _It just kept getting worse and worse, and there were fights inside the rooms. Really bad fights that they had me go outside for, so at the time I didn't know who it was, or why they were fighting or even see much. But I knew that things were only getting worse. Eventually, His Majesty and the Queen said that they couldn't help Sora anymore and that the only help would come from someone closer to his heart." She said and locked eyes with Riku.

"So that's why ...," Riku said, crossing his arms and letting his eyes wander skyward. "Only we can fix Sora."

"Yes. Sora hasn't felt lost it since you came. With you around, he's been stable. And good," Roxanne said. She knew that Sora was a good person, so she was glad his friends were there to help him. Roxanne raised her eyes, and it was only when Riku's connected with hers that she spoke. "But the wounds go deep."

Her sympathetic words betrayed him. The stinging smell of fear was thick in the air, deceptively sweet.

---

Kairi leaned forward, trying to get a decent view of his face, "Sora?"

She raised a hand and placed it on his back, but Sora barely responded to the touch. His shoulders fell slightly and then all at once, he lowered his head. Before Kairi could even contemplate his posture, he turned back around and excitedly took her hand. The ghost of his turbulent emotions had disappeared with the motion, and the change was so quick that Kairi felt a little upset.

His other hand was raised in gesture, something important at the edge of his lips. His mouth was open, ready to speak. Then, as if he'd momentarily forgotten his own disability, his lips were moving quickly, silently. The words never came.

He exhaled quickly, frustrated with himself.

"Sora…" Kairi said, drawing closer. "I'm sorry."

He sighed and backed away slightly. It was so like Kairi to feel responsible for something she had no control over. At times, that quality in her was more of a burden than a comfort.

Kairi still appeared suspicious of his earlier actions, brows furrowed. Looking at her now, he wondered if she would press him or leave it alone like he was hoping she would. Her eyes had a glint of something that Sora had seen looking in the mirror lately, a wistful hope that maybe things would get easier or simpler. It was that ephemeral voice from within, uselessly wishing it could all go back to the way they it was before.

That nagging fear he knew that was always there, the fear that she'd end up waiting forever. That she'd always be looking at their backs. That she'd always be left behind.

"Sora, just tell me we're going to be together. You, me and Riku."

Sora contemplated her words for a moment. Then, a smile pulled at the edges of his lips. It was convincing, and if she'd been anyone other than Sora's closest friend, she probably would have mistaken it for a genuine smile. He was trying to make her feel better, and the two of them were painfully aware of his facade.

Sora raised a hand and motioned towards her heart. Then, he brought it back to his, as if to draw an invisible line connecting them.

"I know," Kairi said. _I'm with you, and you're with me._

In any other circumstance, she would have glowed. At the moment, the declaration only made her heart heavy in her chest.

"Lately, it seems like you're sad." She drew his hands to her lips, as if to kiss them. "And you know when I'm with you, it makes me feel that way too."

Sora rubbed the back of his neck.

"You can tell me, Sora. You really can. We want to help. I know you can't speak, but if you wanted to you could _find_ a way. A letter or writing, through someone else, through pictures, I don't know," she said. "Me and Riku know something is wrong."

A strange aura settled over Sora, and her fingers trembled at the returning wall of indifference. His smile was still present, as vibrant as the sunset and twice as endearing. But somewhere in the mess of his feelings, there was a new, foreign sensation that felt out of place in his aura. It was that of resignation.

Her imagination ran wild, sensing a vast distance that had never been there before. Like someone had built a wall between them while Sora was away. Even through the bond they shared, she knew Sora could feel her mental hands pressing against the barriers, taking in his aura and trying to feel him behind it.

Why did he feel so far away?

That look on his face…. It could hardly be called a smile at all.

"What's hurting, Sora?"

Sora slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper. The edges were crisp, as if he'd spent an inordinate amount of time writing and folding it into a perfect square. He stared at it for a moment and then at Kairi.

He frowned and then reconsidered, shoving it back into pocket. When he pulled his hand out, a small notebook and a pencil came out with it. He noisily scrawled two words onto the pad before handing it to Kairi.

_I'm okay_, it said.

She held the notepad in her hand, trying not to look exasperated. "Is it that you can't say? Or… that you _won't_?"

Sora had the notebook again.

_No._

"I'm just trying to help. Just what's holding you back? Me and Riku _want_ to help. We're here for you if you need us," she insisted.

_Nothing wrong. I'm okay because of you._

Kairi gave him an incredulous look, "That's sweet, but if you're trying to change the subject, you might need to try harder."

There was a stillness that settled over him, as if he were sobering up to a grave truth. Despite his attempts to hide it, Kairi had caught every variation in his face, every untruth in their bond. They had both made valiant efforts to hold back the tide of feelings that threatened to burst through the connection, but streams of consciousness broke through anyway. Even now, he could feel the sting of hurt, piercing her from inside him. Sora shook his head to himself before finally taking the notebook again.

_I think it's time to head home._

Kairi tried to hide her surprise, "What? We just got here a few days ago. Are you sure you're okay to go home?"

_Not me._

"You mean…" she motioned to herself. Sora nodded.

"Sora, I'm staying," She insisted, the first cracks of anger in her physical composure showing through the curling of her fingers into loose fists. "I don't care if it's safer on the island, I'm tired of waiting for you and Riku to come home. I hate being helpless, and I hate not being able to help you if I know I can be there for you."

Sora swept her hands into his, pleading. If only she'd just understand. If only she could just do this one thing for him…

"You're stuck with me," she said firmly, dashing his hopes. The hurt finally made its way into her eyes past the anger.

Her voice faltered, "Why are you always trying to leave me?"

Sora looked exasperated and ran his hands through his hair, taking a step back from Kairi as she read the notebook. It was a stab straight to his heart and he'd been caught so unaware that he'd physically recoiled.

He hadn't meant for things to end up this way. Bringing Kairi up to the sunroom was supposed to be a good memory, time spent with her baring his soul (even in silence) and being open to hers. He was supposed to be listening to her reminisce about childhood stories, talk about what was going on at the islands, joke about her times with Riku as of late.

How was everything so wrong?

_I don't want to_, he wrote.

"Then why do you keep doing it?" she replied. "Do you know what it feels like?"

No, Kairi thought clutching the paper. Sora never knew what it felt like to have to wait while his best friends ran around playing hero. She'd had to wait all her life, had to let the violent current of change and darkness sweep her everywhere but by his side. She'd spent sleepless nights burying her head under the pillow as her mind constantly invented new scenarios in which Sora disappeared or Riku was swallowed by the darkness. How could she leave him now that she finally played a vital role in his recovery?

She wondered when she'd become too delicate to handle, when she'd become something so fragile and ethereal that she'd had to be put on the shelf for safekeeping. She thought she'd proven herself already, having a heart determined enough to wield a keyblade.

Then, she stopped, connecting the dots.

Maybe the reason he'd brought up home was because he was scared. She had discovered a vulnerable part of his defense, broaching a topic that he wasn't ready to address. Just what was it that he didn't want her to know? Was he afraid of what she'd think of him? Was he like Riku in his deepest despair: Ashamed of what he'd done? Afraid of what he'd become?

Could she ever really hate either of them? Never.

"Sora I will never leave you. No matter what's happened to you, you're still Sora. And I still care about you."

She closed the distance between them, even if Sora leaned away from her touch. She looked concerned.

Kairi just kept pressing, just kept getting closer. Every time Sora backed away, Kairi surged forward again in both body and heart. She was digging too deeply, so obsessed that he was only inches away that she didn't realize she was digging her own grave. She had to go home before everything came toppling down.

"_Talk _to me."

He'd allowed Riku and Kairi to stay on a whim, stricken by a sudden insufferable need to have them within arms reach after so long without their touch.

"Please."

It was so like them. Gentle and cautious even in their relentlessness.

He wished things were different. He wished Kairi and Riku would just accept the way things were now. He wished that he didn't have to go through the things he did, he _wished _the world would just work out for once in his life.

He was sinking…

_Stupid, stupid Sora,_ he thought. _It was a mistake. It was such a stupid mistake. _

Sora brought the pencil back to the pad. Tell her to go home. It was simple enough. Maybe he could get through to her. Tell her she couldn't stay. Reason with her why he had to do this alone.

_Just write… just one word… Home.. just write … only…_

His hands were unsteady and that feeling in his chest, that breathlessness. The world trembled underneath his feet.

Was this..?

Oh no.

It was happening to him again.

Not now of all times. His eyes fell on Kairi, whose eyes were filled with concern.

He heard her say, "Are you okay?" and it echoed like he was standing in a cavern instead of in the open air, overlooking the kingdom. The world spun and moved underneath him, though Kairi was unnaturally steady in the tremors. The shadows flickered malevolently, twisting as the sun sank deeper towards the horizon.

Dread took hold of him, the thought of Kairi seeing him and even being near him striking fear into his normally immovable heart. If she was hurt, he wouldn't know what he'd do.

A swell of determination rose up in the midst of all his confusion and disorientation.

Roxas's voice broke through, _Breathe._

With Kairi in his line of sight and Roxas within, he'd barely grasped a lifeline thrown into the dark. He wasn't going to drown while Kairi was there because if he drowned, Sora would be out of the picture and Roxas would be asleep and the only thing left of the two of them would be _it._

Kairi moved with him as he stepped away, trying to steady him and he looked at her gratefully. The ground was closer now that he was on his knees. He grit his teeth, spending all his energy and focus on trying to regain _something_ of himself.

Only the comfort of Kairi's hand at his cheek was keeping him grounded in reality. A lifeline that was slipping away as the torrent of chaos inside became stronger. He could feel a subtle wave of panic rise up and he was stricken with the sudden need to have her close, he drew his arms around her neck.

He was torn between wishing Riku was close too and being glad Riku wasn't there to see him fall.

Kairi was panicking now, like he was, but he could only hear her voice distantly, like the current had carried him far away from the other end of the lifeline.

Even as he floundered, that tiny voice that sounded eerily like his own, but wasn't, whispered in his mind: _Don't forget yourself. Just remember. Remember that Kairi is here, and that she is always here. She won't let us drown._

Roxas's words held him at bay…

And then there _it_ was. It _breathed _just beneath his thoughts, in all it's gloom and malevolent intention. It was scratching to get to the surface in long powerful strokes, and he was just barely hanging on by a thread, hoping that his reserve, his will and his focus was enough to hold it at bay. He felt like he was drowning in dark waters again, a constant flow of churning energy threatening to swallow him whole. The intensity was almost enough to make him snap. The lifeline was so hard to hang on to, and it would be so easy to let go.

_Don't. Don't let go._

_It_ halted, curious, peering through his eyes and gazing at Kairi with curiosity.

And then it moved forward again, in one terrible pressure until he felt the whole world pressing down on him.

There was a point in the madness that he thought it was over, that he'd lost to it. It was one unstoppable landslide of change, and a shifting of his consciousness from day to night. There was even a lull in his perception, a moment where a veil of darkness fell over his perceptions and all he could see was a black silhouette of someone who used to be special to him kneeling before him. She was bathed in accents of red and yellow and - she was beautiful even in the dark.

Inside, a single pillar held up everything that he was. He teetered on the edge of stability, moments away from crashing down in one terrible stroke. The last slipping of light from the tentative time of twilight to the dark. A chipping away of the final pillar before it cracked.

So much. There was just so much inside fighting. Trying to get out and he was just so tired, really tired, when he knew he couldn't let it win, it was just so hard, he prayed there was something, a second chance.

And then Kairi came in close.

At first he felt a touch of terror, that she was too near him when he was on the edge. That she was going to be hurt when he gave in, and the thought physically hurt him in the deeper part of his chest.

She lightly touched her forehead to his.

With her eyes closed and her hands gently cupping his cheeks, even the mere possibility of hurting Kairi seemed far away in his mind. In a mere touch, the waters of his chaos had receded in the presence of soothing light.

She whispered to him everything was going to be all right, she promises, just stay with her, she'll keep him safe, and it became a sort of mantra, a prayer and…

Soft hands took his, fingers closing in comfortingly. Roxas? Kairi? He didn't know.

And the world was still.

There was no black energy. No sea. No storm of emotions. No looming intentions or foreign curiosity that was him, but wasn't. The thing inside stirred, but was swept away by the lull of her voice, and the gentle press of her hand on his back was the last touch needed to send it into slumber.

There was nothing in Sora's weary world except Kairi. Beautiful, sweet Kairi and the sunlight. In the burning red of the sun, he was cradled by a single thought:

She knew.

She always knew how to save him.

A light when all others went out.

The moment passed, and he sank, exhausted in her arms.


End file.
